With crucial panchayat polls in next few months, the Uttar Pradesh police will invoke National Security Act (NSA) to prevent stray incidents from turning into major communal flare ups and affect the electoral process.

"People who give communal colour to petty issues are being identified and action under NSA would be taken against them," UP Director General of Police Jagmohan Yadav said in Kanpur.

Yadav said that small provocations later flare up in communal riots as witnessed in Muzaffarnagar. "It has been seen in some western districts of the state that petty issues turn into violence between two communities," he said on Sunday.

"A minor mishap of two motorcycles took form of a full- scale riot in which scores were killed in western UP," the DGP said.

He also made it clear that the police officials would also have to answer for their lapses in controlling such incidents. The state police chief asked police officers in the western UP to stay vigilant and to identify people who provoke masses.

Yadav said that these incidents are occurring in the wake of upcoming Panchayat elections and Assembly polls to be held in 2017. He said that the police's priority is to ensure peaceful panchayat polls.

Elections would be held for 59,164 Gram Pradhan posts, 74,3297 gram panchayat member posts, 78,075 members of kshetra panchayats posts and 3,134 zila panchayat member posts.

In the 2015 three-level panchayat elections, close to 11 crore voters would be electing as many as 8,84,410 representatives, which include members of gram panchayats, kshetra panchayats and zila panchayats.