Mayawati, Congress trade charges

Lucknow, Oct 15 (IANS) Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati Wednesday accused Congress president Sonia Gandhi of 'hatching a political conspiracy' against the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) even as the Congress condemned her remarks.

'It is a calculated move by the Congress party ahead of the Lok Sabha elections.

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Sonia Gandhi and her party are misguiding people by projecting that the BSP is against development,' Mayawati said.

The two parties are at loggerheads as Mayawati Monday cancelled land allotment for a rail coach factory in Gandhi's Rae Bareli constituency and then imposed prohibitory orders to prevent the Congress president from addressing a rally.

In reply, state Congress president Rita Bahuguna Joshi told reporters Wednesday evening: 'Her statement only reflects her opportunism and her decision reflects the anarchy in the state.'

Rubbishing Mayawati's accusations that the Congress-led central government is adopting a step-motherly attitude towards Uttar Pradesh, Joshi said the state government was not able to spent Rs.120 billion (Rs.12,000 crore) allotted to it till March 31, 2008.

'The chief minister's priority is only to spend public money on private ventures like parks and statues and has even failed in implementing central schemes like the National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme and the public distribution system,' Joshi alleged.

Mayawati earlier said: 'The central government is just not interested in all-round development of the state as it has still not released a penny of the Rs.800 billion package we sought for the uplift of the state.'

The Congress alleged that Mayawati's decision to implement prohibitory orders in Rae Bareli barely 24 hours before Gandhi's Tuesday rally reflected her autocratic style.

'The Rae Bareli administration said section 144 has been imposed as a precautionary step in view of the festivals. However, there will be no law and order problem if Mayawati holds a rally there,' Joshi taunted.

Mayawati has announced a public rally in Rae Bareli but the date has not been declared as yet.

Joshi alleged Mayawati had always created hindrance in all the developmental projects of the central government and this has resulted in most of the industrial units moving out of the state or looking for options in other states.

'The Congress will launch a statewide agitation to expose the government and like our president, we are also ready to go to jail for the betterment of the people,' Joshi claimed.