R B Singh

Lucknow, June 20: Lok Janshakti Party chief and Union Communications Minister Ram Bilas Paswan today held the BSP responsible for the massacre of Dalits in Uttar Pradesh.‘‘There is no doubt that the BSP is getting Dalits killed for electoral gains,’’ he alleged.

Addressing media persons here, Paswan said that by triggering such heinous crimes the BSP was trying to gain the sympathy of Dalits. ‘‘Can the BSP justify its support to the Rabri Devi government under which more than 3500 Dalits were killed?’’ he asked. The Union Communications Minister said that parties such as the BSP had been exposed. ‘‘The people had come to know about their double standards and now could not be fooled by these parties,’’ he claimed. ‘‘It was beyond my imagnation that a party which is supporting the Rabri Devi government is demanding the resignation of the Rajnath Singh government on moral grounds,’’ Paswan said.

Expressing concern over the killing of innocents Dalits under political aims, he said he would meet Rajnath Singh and demand stern action against the culprits. The Union minister would visit Aligarh to call on the families of those killed Dalits.

Meanwhile, BSP vice-president Mayawati said her party would demonstrate against ‘‘Manuwadi parties’’ opposed to reservation for the minority communities. The BJP government would be grilled for spurt in atrocities on the Dalits, abduction of businessmen and their family members, transfer of SC\ST officers to unimportant posts and reversal of developmental decisions taken during her chief ministership.

'BSP shedding crocodile tears'

The Times of India News Service

LUCKNOW: The Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) is responsible for the killings of Dalits in different parts of UP as it wants to gain political mileage before the Assembly polls, alleged president of the Lok Janshakti party and minister for telecommunications Ram Vilas Paswan. He was talking to mediapersons here on Wednesday.

He charged that the BSP was involved in these "heinous incidents" and it was shedding crocodile tears just to gain sympathy of the Dalits.

He queried: "Why is the BSP supporting the Rabri Devi government in Bihar which had made a record of sorts by eliminating over 35,000 Dalits?"

He asserted that Dalits would not accept BSP's double standards as they have now recognised its real face. "How did their morals allow them to demand the resignation of Rajnath Singh when they are supporting the Rabri Devi government?" he asked.

Paswan also quipped over the timing of these killings, which he said was aimed to defame the NDA government in the state. He cautioned the people of the state that a conspiracy had been hatched by some vested political parties, due to which innocent Dalits were being killed for political reasons.

He, however, said he would meet chief minister Rajnath Singh and ask him to punish the culprits involved in the incidents and provide more compensation to the affected families.

Paswan is slated to visit Aligarh on Thursday to meet the Dalits, whose family members were killed by upper caste members.

He announced that his party would contest the coming Assembly elections in UP in alliance with the NDA partners. He said the party's state unit was identifying the seats to be contested by the party. He, however, refused to divulge the number of seats the party would contest.

When asked if his party was fighting to snatch the Dalit vote bank from the clutches of BSP, the Lok Janshakti leader remarked that till date the BSP was having the support of the Dalit vote bank as there was no other party raising their issues. He claimed that several BSP corporators have joined his party recently, particularly in Western UP.