Mulayam to launch agitation against Mayawati

By AMITA VERMA

Lucknow, May 11: Samajwadi Party president and former UP chief minister Mulayam Singh Yadav has announced that his party will launch a major agitation against the Mayawati government after May 13, when the BSP government completes one year in office.

The former chief minister, who was addressing a congregation of brahmins organised by the Sanatan Brahmin Samaj, said that the "atrocities" of the Mayawati government had crossed all limits and the time had come for the Opposition to take to the streets. Mr Yadav claimed that though Ms Mayawati had made a great show of catering to the interests of the brahmin community, she has given tickets to only those brahmins who could afford to pay a price.

"The brahmin community has not benefited under the Mayawati regime — it is only a gang of brahmins who are reaping the harvest. In a way, Mayawati had betrayed the brahmins and this is a form of corruption. The concept of social engineering has fallen flat in reality and the community has not got anything in this regime," he said.

Explaining further, the Samajwadi leader said that his party had always respected brahmins but the brahmins in his party were not "bought" over for electoral gains. "Whether it is Janeshwar Misra or Brij Bhushan Tiwari, they all subscribe to the socialist ideology," he pointed out.

Criticising the Mayawati government, Mr Yadav said that brahmins were feeling cheated in the BSP regime and the time had come to uproot the government at the earliest.

"The BSP has already entered into a secret pact with the BJP and this is evident because Mayawati is only attacking the Congress. The BJP can no longer provide a political alternative as its cadres and leaders are involved in biter factionalism and infighting," he said.