Mayawati
The Madhya Pradesh government on Tuesday decided to withdraw cases filed by the previous Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) regime against the protesters who participated in Bharat Bandh on April 2, 2018.
The decision comes in the wake of BSP supremo Mayawati issuing a virtual threat to withdraw support to the Congress governments in Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan if the cases against the protesters were not revoked.
Madhya Pradesh Law Minister PC Sharma in a statement said that cases filed on April 2 or in the last 15 years by the previous BJP government will be withdrawn.
"If the newly-elected governments in Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan do not act swiftly and withdraw the cases against the innocent persons framed in Bharat Bandh, the BSP may have to reconsider extending the outside support to the Congress governments," she said in a hard-hitting press release in Lucknow.
Accusing Bharatiya Janta Party (BJP) of having a biased outlook, Mayawati said the cases against the innocent people were framed out of political and caste considerations in Uttar Pradesh and other BJP-ruled states including MP and Rajasthan, which were previously under the BJP.
She said now that MP and Rajasthan are ruled by the Congress, the new governments should immediately withdraw such cases, failing which her party would have to reconsider its decision of extending outside support.
The BSP has two members in Madhya Pradesh's 230-member assembly, while in Rajasthan her party has six seats in the House of 200 MLAs.
The BSP extended outside support to the Congress to form governments in these two states as it had failed to reach majority on its own.
Mayawati also said the governments formed by the Congress in Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Rajasthan should not work like the BJP, which did not fulfil its promises made to the farmers and the unemployed.
"The warning to the Congress is necessary, as now merely making announcements is not enough. People are of the view that in making promises on papers, the Congress and the BJP are two sides of the same coin. Now, it depends on the Congress whether it is able to change this perception," she said in the statement.
She said had the Centre left its "stubborn" behaviour pertaining to triple talaq bill, 2018, and sent it to the joint select committee of Parliament as demanded by the entire Opposition, it would have been better.
The BSP chief said in the past five years, there have been non-fulfilment of promises, and by showing dreams of 'achchey din', demonetisation and GST have been implemented in an immature manner.
(With inputs from agencies)
