Lucknow, Mar 26: Rashtriya Lok Dal chief Ajit Singh today slammed the UP government for abetting the Jat agitation for reservation in central services.
"Jat stir was sponsored, promoted and flared by Mayawati government," RLD supremo Ajit Singh alleged while talking to the newspersons where.
He said that while the demand of Jats were justified, but the manner in which the agitation was launched and continued was wrong.
"In democracy everyone has the right to keep his viewpoint. Chakka jams are organised only for a day with the objective of giving a message. But nobody has a right to create problems for a large section of people and annoy them," Singh said.
He said that Jats were getting reservation in six states and their demand for the same in central services was justified.
RLD chief said that the day the Jat stir started, the Samajwadi Party too launched an agitation.
"We all have seen that how brutally SP men were lathicharged and assaulted, but as Jats had protection of the government nothing happened against them," he alleged.
The RLD chief said that when the court intervened and passed an order, the agitation ended within hours.
"That too without any lathicharge," he said adding that Mayawati sponsored the agitation as it was afraid of the RLD which is a strong alternative for the BSP. Ajit Singh also accused the Centre of ignoring farmers and demanded income guarantee for them.
"The Centre has announced export of five lakh tonne sugar when the crushing season is about to end and only five per cent cane is left. Under such circumstances there will be no benefit to the farmers," he said.
He said that if this would have been done earlier farmers would have got better price of their produce.
"Similarly in the case of wheat, whose support price has been hiked by only Rs 20, this year there will be bumper crop and if it is not exported, the produce will rot causing loss to the farmers," he said.
"The government should give income guarantee to the farmers otherwise agricultural production is not going to increase," he added.
Singh announced that the party would launch Poorvanchal Yatra from March 29 from Kaushambi and it would
culminate at Gorakhpur after a month.
On corruption, he said that it was not the question of the Congress alone, but the evil has percolated in the system from top to bottom.
"CBI, CID and other agencies have proved insufficient is ensuring punishment to corrupts. Unless and until there is deterrent punishment, framing law will be of no use," he said.
The RLD chief said that the manner in which scams are coming to the fore, civil society is rising against it.
On the issue of Wikileaks, Singh said that anything written by a diplomat cannot be the final word.
"Lot many things are said during private conversations, but then privacy issue should be kept in mind,"
he said.
Meanwhile, a large number of SP and BSP leaders, including former minister Kiranpal Singh today joined RLD. PTI
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