In the late 1990s, Uttar Pradesh was on the brink of lawlessness, plagued by a notorious criminal underworld that thrived under the political patronage of certain parties. And one name sent a shiver to the spine of every citizen of the state: Shri Prakash Shukla, known to be a dreaded gangster whose reign of terror seemed unabated. His network ran thick, and the political wings, especially the Congress and the Samajwadi Party, had either looked the other way or, worse still, provided them with fertile grounds upon which to grow. It was against this background that on May 4, 1998, the Bharatiya Janata Party government headed by Late Shri Kalyan Singh took a bold decision that changed the face of Uttar Pradesh's law and order. And it was a watershed for the state, the STF was. Less than five months into its operation, the STF cleaned up Shri Prakash Shukla—a final curtain over a criminal empire. No small feat. This was a touchstone of professionalism and efficiency of the STF, which, since its very inception, became a byword for safety and order. While the mafia in Congress and Samajwadi Party regimes had been nourished, the BJP government decided to take a principled stand against the mafia. The STF, under Former CM Shri Kalyan Singh as the head, started with the cleansing process of crime elements from the state, those who had been terrorising ordinary citizens and corrupting police for years. Indeed, the very formation of the STF was a repudiation of the mafia-begetting governments of Congress and the Samajwadi Party that had preceded it. These parties had not only failed to rein in the mafia but actively encouraged a culture in which criminals flourished under the protection of politicians. Kalyan Singh's government laid the foundation for dismantling these networks of power and privilege, and nearly two decades later, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has continued that mission with renewed vigour, systematically rooting out the criminal elements that had resurfaced in the intervening years. Zero Tolerance, Maximum Accountability in UP, thanks to @mYogiAdityanath Ji’s UP Police for safeguarding fairness and protecting public trust.#TransformingUP #नये_भारत_का_नया_उत्तरप्रदेशhttps://t.co/6kBynPy5Lw via @transforming_up pic.twitter.com/F0d095xAmA — Transforming UP (@transforming_up) September 9, 2024 Fast forward to the present, and Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has kept this tradition of zero tolerance regarding law and order going. STF has systematically targeted criminals. It was either the encounter of Atiq Ahmed's son, whose killing had raised an uproar among Samajwadi Party chiefs or the recent encounter in Mathura that brought down the key associate of Mukhtar Ansari. STF proved that it is not going to take political pressure lying low. Objections by Akhilesh Yadav and his party are rooted in their frustration. Operations of the STF did not only snuff out the mafia-backed networks but also cut off their sources of funds. The election reports for 2021-22 and 2022-23 tell an interesting story. The Samajwadi Party, which once gained a considerable amount from electoral bonds, saw a sharp decline in donations in 2022–23. And it is no coincidence. As STF dismantled the mafia networks that once supplied the party with funds, its coffers ran dry. Akhilesh Yadav despises the STF because his funding sources were wiped out, one raid at a time. With an unwavering commitment to law and order, the #UttarPradesh Police have resolved cases by arresting 27,117+ miscreants between March 20, 2017 to September 5, 2024.#TransformingUP #नये_भारत_का_नया_उत्तरप्रदेशhttps://t.co/jJUwBVr2GB via @transforming_up pic.twitter.com/ZvMpcRLvnA — Transforming UP (@transforming_up) September 10, 2024 The STF’s reach extends beyond combating organised crime. It has also been at the forefront of anti-terrorism operations, which has attracted criticism from parties uncomfortable with the STF’s success in curbing extremist activities. One remembers how the High Court tore into the Samajwadi Party when it tried seeking leniency for terrorists. Warning that this may one day lead to calls for terrorists to be given national honours, the court brought out the dangerous path the Samajwadi Party has trod. However, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath's government has not only restored law and order but with an iron fist. The streets of the state are safer; mafia activities are on the ground, as are the forces that harboured the criminals. Be it the work of the STF, which ranges from dealing a blow to terror networks to mafia activities, it is like a pillar to the achievements of the Yogi government.