Mayawati threatens 'law and order' crisis if SP govt touches parks, Dalit memorials

April 14, 2012
maya_statue
Lucknow, April 14: In her first public appearance after losing assembly elections in March this year, Bahujan (BSP) supremo and former chief Uttar Pradesh (UP) chief minister Mayawati was in a combative mood on Saturday when she warned the newly elected Samajwadi Party (SP) government of serious consequences if it tried to alter, damage or construct any new structure in Dalit memorials and parks built during her regime.

Addressing the nearly 2000 crowd comprising BSP workers and leaders, after paying tribute to Dalit icon Babsaheb Bhimrao Ambedkar at Ambedkar Samajik Parivartan Sthal in Lucknow on his 121 birth anniversary, Mayawati threatened any attempt at destroying Dalit memorials or constructing anything else on the land attached to them would lead to law and order crisis not only in UP but all over the country. She said that the SP government should take a leaf from the previous BSP government's book, which did not touch any memorial or park built by any earlier government, including that of the Samajwadi Party in the name of ideologue and personalities of other castes and communities.

"Any act against the memorials can also put the SP government in jeopardy as Dalit memorials are an emotional and prestige issue for Dalits," she said.

Mayawati's statement on 'law and order problem', which many saw as an open threat of violent agitation, came soon after chief minister Akhilesh Yadav after meeting the Prime Minister in Delhi told mediapersons that people of the state have voted out those who used public money to build their own statutes and erect stone structures named after Dalits, which, however, did not benefit Dalits at all.

He reiterated that his government will not touch any statue at Dalit memorials. However, he said, the government can build hospitals for children and women on the huge chunk of land associated with the memorials but lying vacant. He said that in his view nobody would have any objection, if the vacant land is put to use of the public. He said that the people have given a clear mandate to the SP and his government will do what people want.

The move is being seen as Mayawati's attempt to keep her Dalit vote bank intact by creating a fear psychosis that SP government may harm Dalit memorials. She is also trying to provoke Dalits not to sit idle. Though Mayawati has been threatening a disturbance in law and order if Dalit memorials are touched for quite a while, her statement assumes importance now because cracks have appeared in her Dalit vote base in recent assembly elections as a section has voted for other parties.

In her address, she also tried to impress her vote bank by counting welfare schemes and public utility services such as construction of universities and hospitals in the name of Dalit icons implemented during her regime.

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Agencies
March 15,2020

Ahmedabad, Mar 15: Four Congress MLAs in Gujarat have tendered their resignation to Assembly Speaker Rajendra Trivedi ahead of the election to the four Rajya Sabha seats in the state to be held on March 26.

The four Congress legislators tendered their resignation on Saturday, which Trivedi has accepted.

Trivedi told this to PTI on Sunday.

He said he will announce the names of the legislators in the Legislative Assembly on Monday.

"Four Congress MLAs tendered their resignation to me on Saturday, and I will announce their names in the Assembly tomorrow," he said.

With this, the strength of the Congress party in the 182-member Gujarat Assembly has come down to 69 from 73.

The Congress had on Saturday shifted its 14 MLAs to Jaipur fearing horse-trading by the ruling BJP ahead of the Rajya Sabha polls.

The BJP has fielded Abhay Bhardwaj, Ramila Bara and Narhari Amin for the election.

Given its number in the Assembly, the ruling party can only win two seats unless it manages cross-voting from the opposition camp or ensures defection of Congress MLAs to win the third seat.

The Congress has fielded senior leaders Shaktisinh Gohil and Bharatsinh Solanki.

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News Network
June 13,2020

New Delhi, June 13: A quarantine notice pasted outside former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s 3, Motilal Nehru Place residence has raised speculations among media and political circles.

According to reports, the daughter of a domestic help who works at Singh’s residence has tested positive. She and her family, who live in the servant quarters, have been quarantined.

Singh, who has not been keeping well for some time, is slowly getting active. Congress leaders said the former Prime Minister attended a meeting of the party’s consultative committee on Thursday through video conference.

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News Network
April 20,2020

London, Apr 20 : Embattled liquor baron Vijay Mallya, who is wanted in India on alleged fraud and money laundering charges amounting to an estimated ₹9,000 crore, today lost a High Court appeal in UK against his extradition order to India.

A consortium of Indian public sector banks led by the State Bank of India had sought a bankruptcy order against Mallya as part of efforts to recoup around GBP 1.145 billion of unpaid loans from Mallya.

The 64-year-old former Kingfisher Airlines boss had appealed to the High Court against his extradition to India at a hearing in February this year.

Lord Justice Stephen Irwin and Justice Elisabeth Laing, the two-member bench at the Royal Courts of Justice in London presiding over the appeal, dismissed the appeal in a judgment handed down remotely due to the current coronavirus lockdown.

"We consider that while the scope of the prima facie case found by the SDJ [Senior District Judge] is in some respects wider than that alleged by the Respondent in India [Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and Enforcement Directorate (ED)], there is a prima facie case which, in seven important respects, coincides with the allegations in India," the judges ruled.

Earlier this month, the High Court in London had deferred hearings on a plea by the SBI-led consortium of Indian banks, seeking the indebted tycoon to be declared bankrupt to enable them recover their loan from him.

Justice Michael Briggs of the insolvency division of the High Court granted relief to Mallya, ruling that he should be given time till his petitions to the Supreme Court of India and his settlement proposal before the Karnataka High Court be determined, allowing him time to repay his debts to the banks in full.

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