BSP demands dismissal of UP Govt

Bahujan Samaj Party leader Mayawati stormed out of the Rajya Sabha during the Zero Hour on Monday after making forceful demands for the dismissal of the UP government and a CBI inquiry into the desecration of Dr BR Ambedkar's statue in Kanpur last week. She said the Kanpur incident had focused attention on the deteriorating law and order scenario in UP and the Centre should impose President's rule in the state.

A livid Mayawati accused the Mulayam Singh government of hatching a political controversy aimed at creating a divide within the Dalit community by coercing a Dalit to own up the crime. She demanded that the matter of alleged torture of the Dalit youth by the police be referred to the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC). Mayawati said nothing less than a CBI inquiry would be acceptable to her party and just a statement from the home minister would not suffice.

Amid the din created by the BSP members, the House was adjourned twice in the pre-lunch session. BJP members forced a third adjournment after they stormed the Well protesting the arrest of party President Rajnath Singh in West Bengal, while he was on his way to Singur on Monday.

Congress MP Rashid Alvi said if the UP government was not on the wrong side of law, it should not be fearful of a CBI probe. "This attitude brings you under suspicion. Maharashtra agreed to a CBI probe into Dalit killings in Kherlanji. Why is the UP government resisting a probe?" The demand for a CBI probe and imposition of President's rule in UP angered SP leader Amar Singh who said such a move would be a direct assault on the federal structure of the country.

"Today it is UP. Tomorrow it may be some other state. Elected governments can't work like this. The state government will take strict action against the culprits. In any case, what is the credibility of the CBI against whom the Supreme Court has passed strictures," he said.

BJP leader Murli Manohar Joshi demanded that the home minister should make a statement in the House on the issue to apprise members of what had actually transpired in Kanpur. He said the BJP did not support an attack on the country's federal structure, "but the union government cannot stay aloof in a case like this as it is within the Centre's purview to protect the interests of Dalits."

Email Rahul Singh: rahulsingh@hindustantimes.com