Dismiss Mayawati govt, demand BJP, SP leaders

The arrest of Uttar Pradesh Congress chief Rita Bahuguna Joshi and the attack on her house by Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) workers led to a demand for the dismissal of the state government by Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Samajwadi Party (SP) leaders on Thursday.

BJP MP from Uttar Pradesh Maneka Gandhi said here: "The time has come for the Uttar Pradesh government to be dismissed. In every single constituency, people have been sent to jail for absolutely nothing.

"What did Rita Bahuguna Joshi say? She didn't say much and after that she even apologised. Why can't she speak her mind? What kind of democracy is this? President's Rule should be imposed in the state."

Speaking to the media at the main entrance of Parliament house, SP leader Akhilesh Yadav - son of party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav - demanded the dismissal of the Uttar Pradesh government.

Another SP leader, Rajya Sabha MP Kamal Akhtar, said: "The administration in the state has completely collapsed. There is a virtual dictatorship of Mayawati and therefore we demand that this government be dismissed."

BJP leader Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi said: "We don't justify what Rita Bahuguna Joshi had said and whatever was done by the BSP workers after that. It's a political move to woo Dalit votes.

"Both the parties - one at the Centre and the other in the state - are trying to divert attention from real issues like the drought-like situation in Uttar Pradesh and price rise."

BSP workers ransacked and set fire to Joshi's home late Wednesday night. Around the time her house was under attack, Joshi was arrested in Ghaziabad en route to New Delhi. She was charged under the Scheduled caste and Scheduled Tribe (Prevention of Atrocities) Act 1989, for allegedly making derogatory remarks about Mayawati.