Thursday, December 8 2005 17:24 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

Lucknow: Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) today (Dec 08, 2005) charged the Uttar Pradesh government with 'shying away' from recommending a CBI inquiry into the killing of the party MLA Krishnanand Rai as circumstances surrounding the murder 'point towards a role of the government'.

"It is either the connivance of the government or a blatant disregard to a sitting MLA, who was killed," leader of the opposition Lalji Tandon told reporters here. "The circumstances surrounding the murder of Rai appear to be pointing towards a possible role of the government," Tandon said.

He claimed that the Special Task Force (STF) of the state police had already informed the government that the Poorvanchal in general and Ghazipur district in particular were turning into a haven for the criminals but it failed to act.

Instead the government increased the security of independent MLA from Mau Mukhtar Ansari while cutting security of Rai, he alleged.

"A CBI inquiry will reveal many secrets," he said without elaborating.

In reply to a question he said that former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee would be arriving in Varanasi, where the party had been holding a dharna in protest against Rai's killing, to flag off the party's 'nyay yatra' on December 14 next.