Ensure immediate passage of anti-communal violence bill: Mulayam

The Samajwadi Party (SP) Friday demanded that the United Progressive Alliance government at the centre should, despite opposition from many parties, ensure passage of the Prevention of Communal and Targeted Violence Bill in the ongoing parliament session.

Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav at a news conference at the party headquarters here said the Congress was not serious about passing the bill.

He also demanded that the Congress-led government should try to know the opinion of minorities on the bill and then take a decision to fast-track its passage.

The union government was forced to beat a hasty retreat Feb 5 on plans to introduce the controversial bill as most opposition parties, including the Bharatiya Janata Party and the Left, said the proposal encroached upon the right of state governments to maintain law and order.

The former Uttar Pradesh chief minister also accused the Congress of "always bowing before communal forces" and said the ruling party at the centre was always concerned about its benefits and losses.

"The Congress always has compromised on secularism as it is only concerned about itself," he told reporters.

Mulayam Singh also said the "niyat" (intention) of the Congress was never good and it never paid attention to development of the country. Giving a thumbs up to the state government run by his son and Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav, he said it was doing good work.

He also claimed that in the aftermath of the 2013 Muzaffarnagar communal riots, the state government has done commendable work in relief and rehabilitation of riot survivors.