The BJP Friday said IAS officer Durga Shakti Nagpal's suspension by the Uttar Pradesh government was a clear message that "honesty will be punished and 'goondagardi' (criminal behaviour) rewarded" in the state. The issue was being used for electoral gains, the party further said.
Questioning the ruling Samajwadi Party (SP) whether any officials were suspended for the "27 riots that have taken place" in the state during its rule, Bharatiya Janata Party spokesperson Meenakshi Lekhi said Nagpal's suspension was a ploy to demoralise honest administrative officials.
She said the SP was seeking to inflame religious anger on the "so called" demolition of a mosque wall in a bid to pick up votes.
The Indian Administrative Service officer was suspended by the Akhilesh Yadav government July 28 on charges of inciting communal tensions by demolishing the wall of an unauthorised mosque.
Lekhi said Nagpal's suspension was "unlawful" and that she had only followed the orders of higher officials.
Supporting Nagpal, the BJP spokesperson said she was an honest and hardworking officer who had seized more than 24 truck loads of illegally mined sand and arrested several members of the sand mafia.
"She impounded 297 vehicles and collected a fine of over Rs.80 lakh," Lekhi said.
The BJP spokesperson also said that illegal dredging on the banks of Yamuna by "sand mining gangs of Gautam Budh Nagar" was causing ecological damage and destroying the marine environment.
Lekhi also hit out at Samajwadi Party leader Azam Khan over his purported defence of illegal mining.
Referring to SP leader Narendra Bhati, Lekhi alleged that he was close to several sand mining mafia dons and had claimed to have got the IAS official suspended in 41 minutes.
"He touts this act of flexing his political muscle as a 'power of democracy'," Lekhi said, and termed his remarks as "shameless".
"The Samajwadi Party and its CM (chief minister) have been unable to implement any good project in (the past) 41 months, but its party members brag about the suspension of an honest IAS officer in 41 minutes," she said.
Questioning the ruling Samajwadi Party (SP) whether any officials were suspended for the "27 riots that have taken place" in the state during its rule, Bharatiya Janata Party spokesperson Meenakshi Lekhi said Nagpal's suspension was a ploy to demoralise honest administrative officials.
She said the SP was seeking to inflame religious anger on the "so called" demolition of a mosque wall in a bid to pick up votes.
The Indian Administrative Service officer was suspended by the Akhilesh Yadav government July 28 on charges of inciting communal tensions by demolishing the wall of an unauthorised mosque.
Lekhi said Nagpal's suspension was "unlawful" and that she had only followed the orders of higher officials.
Supporting Nagpal, the BJP spokesperson said she was an honest and hardworking officer who had seized more than 24 truck loads of illegally mined sand and arrested several members of the sand mafia.
"She impounded 297 vehicles and collected a fine of over Rs.80 lakh," Lekhi said.
The BJP spokesperson also said that illegal dredging on the banks of Yamuna by "sand mining gangs of Gautam Budh Nagar" was causing ecological damage and destroying the marine environment.
Lekhi also hit out at Samajwadi Party leader Azam Khan over his purported defence of illegal mining.
Referring to SP leader Narendra Bhati, Lekhi alleged that he was close to several sand mining mafia dons and had claimed to have got the IAS official suspended in 41 minutes.
"He touts this act of flexing his political muscle as a 'power of democracy'," Lekhi said, and termed his remarks as "shameless".
"The Samajwadi Party and its CM (chief minister) have been unable to implement any good project in (the past) 41 months, but its party members brag about the suspension of an honest IAS officer in 41 minutes," she said.