In a clear attempt to pander to caste politics, the Bhartiya Kisan Union, Rashtriya Lok Dal and All-India Jat Aarakshan Samiti have come out in open support of the Talibani-style diktat by Asra village panchayat in UP’s Baghpat district, banning women below 40 from going to the market and using cellphones.
Uttar Pradesh chief minister Akhilesh Yadav said in Kanpur on Sunday that “Aisa nahin hona chahiye (this should not have taken place)” when asked for his views. Television reports claimed Mr Yadav had said the panchayat’s decision must have been in the interests of the people.
RLD MP Jayant Choudhury, son of Union minister Ajit Singh, met panchayat members on Saturday and told the media that everybody had the right to manage family affairs the way they wanted to. “They (panchayat members) are doing just that. It is no diktat. It is a mere suggestion”, he said, defen-ding the panchayat move. Asra is part of Mr Ajit Singh’s constituency and Mr Jayant Choudhury’s stand clearly indicates the RLD doesn’t want to annoy the panchayats that rule politics in western UP. The village panchayat also banned love marriages, saying those who defied its order would not be allowed to live in the village.
The All-India Jat Aarakshan Samiti, an umbrella body of various Jat associations, also supported the ban, which has led to outrage across the country with several women’s organisations attacking the panchayat’s order.
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Jaswant NDA frontrunner for V-P poll
AGE CORRESPONDENT
New Delhi, July 15
The BJP-led NDA will meet at NDA working chairman L.K. Advani’s residence on Monday to discuss the vice-presidential polls. Though senior BJP leader Jaswant Singh has emerged as the front-runner to challenge the UPA’s V-P candidate, Mr Hamid Ansari, the names of JD(U) chief Sharad Yadav, Shiv Sena leader Manohar Joshi and BJP vice-president Najma Heptu-llah are also doing the rounds as the NDA’s likely candidate.