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Mayawati dares UP CM Akhilesh Yadav to sack ‘tainted ministers’
Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) chief Mayawati dared Uttar Pradesh chief minister Akhilesh Yadav on Tuesday to remove “tainted ministers” from his government and send those facing criminal charges to prison.
Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) chief Mayawati dared Uttar Pradesh chief minister Akhilesh Yadav on Tuesday to remove “tainted ministers” from his government and send those facing criminal charges to prison.
Terming the Samajwadi Party’s decision to revoke the merger with the Qaumi Ekta Dal (QED) led by gangster-turned-politician Mukhtar Ansari a political gimmick, Mayawati said: “Such posturing will hardly refurbish the image of the chief minister. Rather, he should tighten the noose around the Samajwadi Party leaders and workers who are indulging in criminal activities.”
“The chief minister will not clamp down on the tainted elements in the SP as he is aware that there will be no space left in the prisons and his party will become defunct,” the BSP chief told a news conference.
Read: SP calls off merger with Mukhtar Ansari’s party after Akhilesh Yadav objects
“People know that the association of SP leaders with the criminals will not end. Though the SP leaders revoked the merger with QED, they took the assistance of QED MLAs in the Rajya Sabha and legislative council election. The SP will give a return gift to the QED by fielding weak candidates against Mukhtar Anasri and his brothers in the 2017 assembly elections,” Mayawati said.
Drawing a parallel with Yadav’s decision to break an alliance with gangster-turned-politician DP Yadav before the 2012 assembly election, Mayawati said: “The SP government is facing flak over lawlessness. Akhilesh Yadav replayed the old trick to shore up the image of his government. But this time he will be not able to fool the people.”
“The morale of criminals is high these days and they kill policemen in full public view. If the cops are insecure, the common man will naturally feel scared. The state government is hardly concerned about the safety of the people,” she said.
The four-time former chief minister alleged the Yadav family was concerned about its survival in politics. The state government reshuffled the ministers and also transferred a large number of officers to placate the people, Mayawati said.
But if the chief minister wished to fight anti- incumbency, he should launch a ‘rath yatra’ in the state to establish direct communication with the public, she suggested.
Mayawati urged the governor to recommend the imposition of President’s rule in UP.
“People will not forgive the BJP government at the centre for not freeing them from the clutches of the SP government in the state,” she said.
Alleging a deal between the BJP and the SP, she said these days BJP leaders and Prime Minister Narendra Modi were visiting UP and talking of development as well as eradication of poverty. But Modi’s promise to bring ‘achhe din’ had not been kept, she alleged.
