By IANS
Mumbai : In its first reaction since the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) launched a tirade against north Indians in Mumbai, the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) Thursday said the campaign was a conspiracy by the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) to divide the votes of “communal forces”.
In a statement issued 12 days after north Indians were first targeted in Mumbai and other parts of Maharashtra, BSP state convenor Sudhir Sawant said the whole incident was pre-planned.
“It is part of the conspiracy engineered by the NCP to cause division in votes of communal forces,” Sawant added.
“The Maharashtra government is protective towards criminals and the police inaction has prompted me to issue this statement,” said Sawant, a former senior Congress leader who joined the BSP in December 2007.
He claimed that the MNS was “a front for the Sharad Pawar-led NCP and the outburst is a repetition of history when the Congress party encouraged violence against south Indians and created Shiv Sena.
“Now seeing the imminent defeat at polls, the NCP and Congress are protecting the MNS as a defender of the Maharashtrians. It is for this reason that there is nil action from the government,” Sawant alleged.
“In the land of Mahatma Phule and Dr B.R. Ambedkar, such crimes are a contradiction to the social ethos of the state.”
Sawant said the BSP would render help to each victim of the MNS violence and help bring the culprits to book.
Mayawati had held a massive rally in Mumbai in November in a bid to unite people from all castes and communities.
However, in the recent incidents of sporadic violence that hit Maharashtra, the BSP adopted a neutral stand, while the Samajwadi Party grabbed the opportunity to proclaim itself as the messiah of north Indians.
Trouble has been brewing since Feb 3 when Thackeray stepped up his Maharashtra for Maharashtrians only campaign, provoking a clash with the Samajwadi Party. On Wednesday, Thackeray and Samajwadi Party leader Abu Asim Azmi were arrested on charges of inciting ethnic hatred and released on bail soon after.