By IANS,
Lucknow : Strongly refuting the allegation about instigating the Jat trouble in Uttar Pradesh, Chief Minister Mayawati has termed the opposition charge as “baseless, false and unfounded”.
“Right from day one, the chief minister had made it clear that even though she favoured the demand of the Jats to include them in the list of OBCs (Other Backward Classes), there was no question of allowing them to take law into their hands,” State Cabinet Secretary Shashank Shekhar Singh told a press conference here Monday on behalf of Mayawati.
Singh added: “The chief minister had ordered very effective steps to contain any trouble created by the agitators, who eventually lifted their dharna (sit-in strike), essentially on account of those measures.”
“Knowing that any decision on their demand could be taken only by the central government, the chief minister did not wish to interfere until talks were held between the agitators and representatives of the union government,” he said.
The cabinet secretary stressed that action was promptly taken against the demonstrators by the state government whenever they tried to indulge violence.
The Jat protesters withdrew their three-week-long agitation for a job quota Saturday and train services resumed partially Sunday.