UP chief minister Mayawati, on Saturday, put the Opposition parties in the dock when she blamed them for spreading canards about the law and order situation in the state.
The chief minister said that the Samajwadi Party was wholly responsible for the attack on UP minister Nand Gopal Nandi on July 12.
She asked the Samajwadi Party, BJP and the Congress to do some introspection before blaming her government on such issues.
Addressing a press conference here on Saturday, the chief minister said that during the Samajwadi Party regime in Uttar Pradesh, “jungle raj” prevailed in the state. “SP leaders, from the top to bottom, are known to provide shelter to criminal elements and the common man could not even get an FIR registered at police stations during the Mulayam regime,” she said.
Ms Mayawati said that Opposition parties were attempting to malign the image of her government on the issue of the attack on the minister but were conveniently forgetting the fact that similar incidents had taken place in non-BSP governments too.
Referring to the Congress regime, the chief minister said that the assassinations of late Indira Gandhi and Lalit Narain Misra were indicative of the prevailing law and order situation at that time while the Sikh riots that following Gandhi’s death threw the entire nation into a state of turmoil.
“Political murders have taken place in the SP and BJP regime too. BSP MLA Raju Pal, SP MLC Ajit Singh and BJP MLA Krishnanand Rai were murdered during SP regime while SP MLA Manzoor Ahmad was shot dead in front of Raj Bhavan in Lucknow,” she pointed out.
Ms Mayawati said that her government had taken stern action against criminals and mafia. “My government has seized ill-gotten property and wealth worth Rs 233 crores from such criminal elements. Criminals like Vijay Misra and Ateeq Ahmad got protection in the SP regime. This has naturally unnerved these criminals who resorted to an attack on Nand Gopal Nandi,” she stated. She said certain political rivals had become frustrated after witnessing the growing popularity of Nand Gopal Nandi.