The Hindu : National : Mulayam hits back

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Thursday, Sep 16, 2004

National

National

Mulayam hits back

By Our Special Correspondent

NEW DELHI. SEPT. 15. A day after the Congress president, Sonia Gandhi, said that the law and order situation in Uttar Pradesh was deteriorating, the Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister, Mulayam Singh Yadav, joined issue with her, saying the situation was much better than that in the Congress-ruled States of Maharashtra and Delhi.

Ms. Gandhi, who is on a tour of her constituency, Rae Bareli, alluded to complaints she had received from the people about the situation in Uttar Pradesh. She was careful not to attack the Samajwadi Party-led State Government directly, and parried attempts to get her to target the State Government.

However, Mr. Yadav was more direct in his response and asked the Congress to first look at the situation in the States ruled by it before trying to corner his Government.

The Samajwadi Party leadership is of the view that critical comments regarding the law and order situation in the State are a part of a larger Congress strategy to undermine the State Government.

"Heinous crimes like murder and rape are a daily occurrence in the capital but the Congress only keeps talking of sporadic incidents in my State,'' said Mr. Yadav.

Verbal exchanges

The verbal exchanges between the two parties have become shriller in the last few weeks with the State unit of the Congress openly protesting against the State Government. The SP on the other hand has challenged the Congress to withdraw support to the Government if it was really serious. "There is no point in beating their breasts, if they are serious why don't they withdraw support,'' said the SP Rajya Sabha MP, Shahid Siddiqui.

The Congress is supporting the SP Government from outside in Uttar Pradesh, while the Samajwadi Party is also supporting the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) Government at the Centre. "The political reality is that both sides have to put up with each other. The secular voters want us to be together and there is little we can do about it at the moment," Mr. Siddiqui said.

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