Lucknow, Feb 28 (IANS): The blame game over the affiliation of the accused in the Umesh Pal murder has now entered the picture gallery.

Pal, a witness in the murder case of a Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) MLA, was shot dead in Prayagraj on February 24.

Several BJP leaders on Tuesday shared an undated picture from their Twitter handles which showed Sadaqat Khan, an accused in the murder, with Samajwadi Party (SP) chief Akhilesh Yadav.

The SP was termed a "nursery of criminals" by Deputy Chief Minister Brajesh Pathak who said that his government has zero tolerance against crime.

"Our government has a zero tolerance against crime. The whole state knows that the Samajwadi Party is a nursery of criminals. But we are committed to ensure that no matter what reach any criminal has, we will not spare that person," Pathak said.

Meanwhile, Akhilesh Yadav said that anyone can come up and get a photo clicked with a public official.

"One can get a photo clicked with anyone. Yesterday, the Chief Minister and I had a photo together. It's the age of social media and anyone comes and gets photo clicked," he said while responding to the tweet.

Hours later, SP leader Ameeque Jamei also shared an image of Sadaqat Khan with former BJP MLA Udaybhan Karwariya.

Karwariya is a senior BJP leader and a former MLA.