By IANS
New Delhi : The souring relations between the Congress and the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) worsened Monday with Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati accusing the central government of not providing her enough security and threatened to review her support to the ruling coalition.
Alleging that some Congress leaders wanted to “eliminate” her, the BSP supremo insisted that the central government should assign the elite Special Protection Group (SPG) for her security.
Speaking at a press conference here, Mayawati warned that she would review her party’s support to the ruling United Progressive Alliance (UPA) after Jan 15 unless her demand was met.
The Congress has rubbished Mayawati’s charges.
“I am unable to understand why is she levelling such charges. She has the complete police force of Uttar Pradesh, she has all the commandos,” Digvijay Singh, Congress general secretary in charge of Uttar Pradesh, told reporters here.
“The central government can never be part of such conspiracies, especially the Congress can never be a party in such matters,” he said, referring to Mayawati’s allegations that some Congress leaders were conniving with criminals to eliminate her.
Mayawati’s allegations come in the wake of the BSP’s war of words with the central government over recent terror strikes in Uttar Pradesh. Huge hoardings and banners in various parts of Lucknow blame the Congress-led central government for the militant attacks.
The chief minister’s press conference was her first public outburst against the Congress since she became the chief minister in May 2007. The BSP extends an outside parliamentary support to the UPA government.
Congress leaders have described the Jan 1 terrorist strike on the paramilitary Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) camp in Rampur town as a “failure” of the Uttar Pradesh government.
At her press conference, Mayawati alleged: “I have information that a known criminal, Atiq Ahmad, (Samajwadi Party MP) who along with his brother was involved in killing my MLA Raju Pal, has resolved to kill me and is hiding in Delhi, and certain Congress leaders are providing him protection.”
“The central government knows very well that some of my political opponents are trying to kill me. That is the reason my government asked the central government to give me SPG cover. This looks like a big conspiracy,” she alleged.
“If anything happens to me the Congress, will be responsible for this and the poor and deprived people will never forgive it. That is why we have to decide whether our 19 MPs will continue to support this government,” she said.
The BSP has 19 MPs in the Lok Sabha, the lower house of Indian parliament, and seven in the upper house.
She also said that the Congress party was moving towards disintegration.
“The alarm bells for the Congress have already rung in Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh,” Mayawati said, referring to the Congress’ recent rout in these two states.
The BSP chief said that she is busy expanding her party’s base all over the country and will continue this effort. “We are neither sabotaging the Congress nor helping the BJP, we are here to expand our base among all sections of the society,” she said.
Referring to the Taj Corridor corruption case slapped against her by the previous National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government, she said: “The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) had slapped false cases against me to slow the momentum of BSP’s progress. The Congress government has not yet withdrawn the case even after the Income Tax Department has given me a clean chit.”
She also blamed the present and previous central governments for the rise in terrorism. Mayawati said: “Everyone knows that terrorists do not come to India with passports and visa, they cross over from our borders which are not fully secure. Therefore, it is the responsibility of the armed forces protecting our borders to prevent terrorists from infiltrating into India.”