Lucknow: Taking on the Mayawati government ahead of the 2012 assembly polls, UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi on Thursday said that UP was amongst the most corrupt states in India and the state government had failed to deliver on all fronts.
Addressing a rally in Varanasi as part of the Congress state convention, AICC president, appeared to be in an attacking and belligerent mood. She said that the only kind of politics being played in UP was caste politics.
Strongly backing Rahul Gandhi, Sonia Gandhi slammed the Uttar Pradesh government over the “brutalities” perpetrated on farmers in Greater Noida villages, saying the state has descended into ‘anarchy and lawlessness’. She said that she was “ashamed” to see the atrocities perpetrated in Bhatta-Parsaul
A week after Rahul’s visit to Bhatta-Parsaul villages in support of the farmers agitating against land acquisition, Sonia accused the Mayawati government of using state machinery to acquire land for projects.
The UPA chairperson emphasized that the people of UP had been suffering and farmers were being brutalized. She said that the industry was dying in the state and that the state government was not using the central fund. Instead it was being misused by the government officers. She demanded that the money given by the UPA government should be utilized properly.
Hitting back at the opposition she said that those who attacked the Congress over corruption, couldn’t they see corruption within. She pointed out that no government had acted so sternly against corruption like the UPA government.
Referring to the recently concluded assembly polls, Sonia Gandhi took potshots at the BJP and the left front saying that whereas the BJP won only 3-4, the left was completely routed. On the other hand the congress got a resounding mandate and was a clear winner. She said the she was sure of winning in UP as well.
Sonia urged the Congress workers to go to the people and fight for their problems. “I am sure victory will be ours in UP as well. Congress party has always upheld your trust,” she said.
Sonia Gandhi’s visit to Uttar Pradesh comes in the aftermath of a controversy over alleged atrocities committed by police on the farmers belonging to Bhatta Parsaul village in Noida, who are demanding adequate compensation for their land acquired by the UP government
Earlier on Wednesday, Congress general secretary Rahul Gandhi took the Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati head-on and demanded a judicial probe into the brutal and barbaric treatment given by the farmers of Bhatta Parsaul village by UP police.
Speaking at the state convention of Congress in Varanasi, the youth leader said, “Our fight is not for winning elections but to ensure better future for youths and development.”
Cornering Mayawati over the issue, Rahul said, “The Uttar Pradesh government says all is well in Bhatta Parsaul. Then why Section 144 (prohibitory orders) has been imposed there. If everything is alright, why people are fleeing?”
He also questioned Mayawati’s intentions saying, “If everything is alright, why a judicial probe is not being ordered? Free and fair inquiry is the need of the hour to fix responsibility.”
(With PTI inputs)