The Hindu : BSP members protest `lawlessness' in U.P.

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Thursday, Feb 05, 2004

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BSP members protest `lawlessness' in U.P.

By Our Special Correspondent

LUCKNOW, FEB. 4. Slogan-shouting Bahujan Samaj Party members, protesting the "lawlessness" in the State, greeted the Uttar Pradesh Governor, Vishnu Kant Shastri, as he entered the Assembly today to address a joint sitting of the two Houses of the legislature.

Mr. Shastri first asked the BSP members to resume their seats. When his pleadings went unheeded, he read a few lines from his prepared speech and left.

The BSP members, who had come prepared with placards and banners denouncing the Mulayam Singh Yadav Government, for leaving the State in chaos. "U.P. hua arajak sansar, bhatija C.M. apaharan ka shikar" (U.P. has become a world of lawlessness, even CM's nephew has become a victim of kidnapping) and "Goonda raj ka dekho andher, nati P.M. ka hua dher" (See the injustice of Goonda raj, the grandson of the P.M. has been done to death) pronounced two of the many banners waved by the BSP members as Mr. Shastri began his speech. They raised the pitch of their slogans to dissuade Mr Shastri and calmed down only after the Governor left.

The members of the Bharatiya Janata Party, the main Opposition party, however, remained silent. Their leader, Lalji Tandon, later condemned the BSP members' behaviour. In his address, Mr. Shastri referred to the efforts made to tarnish the State's image during the BSP's rule. "The State was turned into laboratory of loot and corruption. The tradition of the State's glorious bureaucracy had started witnessing blots over its image," he said. "The present Government is making all-out efforts to measure up to the feelings and expectations of the people... " Mr. Shastri said.

He justified the decision to abolish the administrative units created during the previous regime adding that the money saved on this account would be spent for the development of the various regions.

Stressing the need for maintaining communal amity for the State's development, he said that the court's decision on the Ayodhya dispute should be awaited. The Governor also emphasised the Government's commitment to ensuring the welfare and uplift of various sections of society, including the Scheduled Castes, the Scheduled Tribes, the disabled and other weaker sections.

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BSP members protest `lawlessness' in U.P.