Noida (UP):Seeking to put the Mulayam Singh Yadav governmentin Uttar Pradesh on the mat on the law and order situation and Nithari serialkillings in particular, Congress President Sonia Gandhi today said the chiefminister sought a CBI inquiry only after mounting pressure from her party.

Ahead of the crucial Assembly elections in the state, Gandhimade an early morning visit to Nithari and launched a scathing attack on theSamajwadi Party Government saying there was no law and order in the state.

The Congress President asserted that a reluctant ChiefMinister had to order a CBI probe into the ghastly killings only after pressuremounted on him, especially from the Congress.

"We had demanded for a CBI probe right in thebeginning. But the Chief Minister refused to do that, now it has been doneunder pressure from the Congress," she told reporters here.

 "Law and orderka naam hi nahin hai. Yahan par aap zara aakar dekhiye kya haalat hai. Roz kuchna kuch ho raha hai. (There is no law and order. You can see for yourselves thesituation. Something or the other is happening everyday," she added.

The UPA Chairperson said the state government had initiallyrefused to order a CBI investigation into the 'cruel' and 'heinous' killings ofat least 17 children and women in Nithari in this industrial township allegedlyby businessman Moninder Singh Pandher and his domestic help Surender Koli.

Significantly, the Congress chief, however, did not reply toquestions on imposing President's rule in the state.