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Centre blamed for Raja Bhaiya's plight

By Our Special Correspondent

LUCKNOW, FEB. 21. The Samajwadi Party leader and Chairperson of the Uttar Pradesh Development Council, Amar Singh, lashed out at the Central Government today for its failure to withdraw charges under POTA slapped by the earlier Mayawati regime against the independent MLA, Raghuraj Pratap Singh, his father Uday Pratap Singh, and one of his relatives Akshay Pratap Singh.

Talking to newspersons after releasing an audio cassette giving a musical description of the sad plight of the victim, Mr. Amar Singh said the Mayawati Government might have been responsible for the atrocities committed against the legislator and his father but the real culprit was the Central Government which had legislated the draconian law.

The Samajwadi Party had announced plans to withdraw POTA against Raghuraj Pratap Singh, also known as Raja Bhaiya, immediately after coming to power in August last year. However, POTA being a Central legislation, the trial court held that only the Union Government could withdraw the charges. The State Government had since sent its recommendations to the Union Home Ministry and the matter was resting there.

Mr. Amar Singh said that the Deputy Prime Minister, L K Advani, himself had told him that the matter was being referred to the Review Committee to withdraw the charges. The cassette released today would be used during the elections to expose the role of the BJP in this context, he said.

Replying to a question, the SP leader rejected the possibility of an electoral understanding between his party and the Congress. He had met the Congress president, Sonia Gandhi, nearly a fortnight ago and had a one-to-one discussion with her for nearly two hours. "But it had nothing to do with any likely electoral alliance between the two parties." The BSP and the Congress on the other hand continued to suggest that they were trying to have an understanding to contest the elections, Mr Singh added.

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