At the party state executive meeting held on Tuesday, SP chief Mulayam Singh Yadav said: “The way chargesheet has been filed and the way the accused have been taken into remand, it is clear that the government is trying to protect them.”

He also raised the issue of the SP workers who were arrested in Auraiya during a demonstration after the incident.

“What was the crime of these party workers? This government wants to take away one’s right to protest,” he said.

At the executive meeting, a resolution was also passed to launch a movement to include Dhangar, an Other Backward Classes community, into the Scheduled Castes category.

Regarding the Pashupatinath temple issue, Yadav said he will request UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to hold a dialogue with the Nepal government to sort out the matter.