Mayawati seeks dismissal of Haryana government

Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) chief Mayawati on Saturday demanded the dismissal of the Manoharlal Khattar government in Haryana for failing to curb the violence that erupted after a CBI court convicted Dera Sacha Sauda chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim in a rape case.

In a statement here on Saturday, the former Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister said the loss of lives, damage to property and cancellation of over 500 trains was a huge national loss and the BJP government in Haryana was responsible for failing to contain the violet outburst of the Dera sect.

She also accused the BJP of not acting in the wake of the violence in Panchkula and other parts of Haryana as it had "vote bank politics on its mind".

"The BJP government kept mum as violence spiralled out of control. The incidents of Friday reminded people of a similar situation in 1992 when the Babri mosque was demolished in Ayodhya, also under a BJP government," she said.

Even the army, she accused, was not allowed to act. The four-time Chief Minister demanded that the Prime Minister and army chief look into the reasons why the army was deployed but not used by the Haryana government to contain the violence.

Mayawati also slammed the statement of support by Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Lok Sabha MP from Unnao Sakhi Maharaj for the Dera chief. This, she pointed out, was contempt of court.

Alleging that the Khattar government in Haryana had lost the right to stay in power, she asked the Centre to dismiss it without any further delay.

--IANS

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