20 May,2011 06:43 AM IST | | Agencies
Close on the heels of her son Rahul's pointed attack, Congress President Sonia Gandhi on Thursday lambasted Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati for the "total misrule" in the state.
Addressing an impressive public rally at the historic Beniyabagh grounds here, Sonia said, "UP is a classic example of total misrule. It is an andher nagari, where there is none to listen to your woes."
A day after Rahul Gandhi pledged to oust the BSP government in UP, Congress President Sonia Gandhi rebukes Mayawati for 'misrule'.
"Everyone appears to be involved in plundering the state and serving their own vested interests.
"There is anarchy everywhere, misrule is all-pervasive and there is a conspiracy of corruption," she told a gathering of about 30,000 people.
"No one is here to listen to the public. All these things would not be tolerated by the Congress," she said during her 20-minute speech.
Referring to the recent farmers' trouble in western Uttar Pradesh, the Congress president said the "atrocities by the UP police on farmers in Greater Noida were shameful."
She further blamed the state government for shutting down industries and for the "sell-out" of sugar mills.
"There was a time when UP used to determine the political destiny of the nation.
However, today this state is suffering on account of the dominance of the politics of caste, creed and politics of loot," Sonia said.
A combative Gandhi went about attacking the Mayawati regime for other ills prevailing in the country's most populous state.
Claiming that the UPA government was responsible for initiating a host of welfare schemes, she said, "We have also taken care to address the problems faced by certain backward regions like Bundelkhand, for which we gave a special economic package of Rs 7,000 crore."