It’s centre’s responsibility to implement Allahabad HC ruling: Mayawati

LUCKNOW: In a swift move to pass the Ayodhya buck to the Congress, UP chief minister Mayawati said that it was the responsibility of the Centre to implement Thursday’s High Court ruling.

At a hurriedly convened press conference within an hour of the judgment, she announced that she had written to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh asking him to ensure that the Centre takes immediate steps in this regard. ‘‘ Any delay will be the responsibility of the Centre and the onus for any untoward incidents that may follow will also be on the Centre,’’ she declared .

She added that everyone should welcome the ruling but if there was disagreement on any count, contesting parties had the option of moving the SC. ‘‘ So, rest assured, the High Court order was not the final judgment,’’ she said, indicating that she has already done a costbenefit analysis.

For a politician not known for mincing her words, this was quite a middle-of-the-road position to take, the mellowing confirming the continued desire to broadbase her appeal .

It is significant that she waited for the reaction of the All India Babri Masjid Action Committee to the judgment before she called a press conference . Once Zafaryab Jilani had expressed ‘‘ part disappointment’ ’ and announced that there will be an appeal in the Supreme Court, Mayawati swung to buffer herself.

While mounting a gigan tic security bandobast — an endeavour which appeals to all who have stake in peace — Mayawati kept the focus on herself. Considering that, the stress on Centre’s responsibility was a switch dictated by a shrewd political consideration .

It was not just an effort to cash in on possible Muslim discontent with the Congress by putting the onus squarely on the Centre. By stressing that the implementation of the verdict was Centre’s re sponsibility, Mayawati was also trying to barricade her self against any possible re sentment over the delay in the execution of the HC order.

In the same breath, she is sued a warning of stern ac tion against troublemakers trying to disturb communal peace in UP. Nobody would be spared in this regard, irre spective of his or her position she stressed.

Her post-judgment com ments fit into a recent pattern in which Mayawati has tried to corner the credit with a show of intent, like demanding mas sive paramilitary force to main tain the peace, and then heap blame on the Congress-ruled Centre for not helping.

She accused Delhi of be ing ‘‘ non-cooperative’ ’ and said that despite her repeat ed requests for 642 companies of para-military forces, the state had got only 52 compa nies to help the UP police maintain law and order in the wake of the Ayodhya verdict.
Elaborating, she said 18 companies had been deployed for the security of two bench es of the Allahabad High Court, which gave the ruling and 15 companies had been sent to Ayodhya. This left her government with only 19 companies for deployment in other parts of the state she lamented.

Her cabinet secretary Shashank Shekhar Singh had prepared the ground for the blame game on Wednesday night, barely hours before the Ayodhya ruling, when he sur prised all by telling reporters that Centre had not met the UP government’s request for adequate forces. He warned that the Centre would be re sponsible for any disturbance following the judgment.

The Congress responded to Mayawati’s challenge im mediately with party leader Pramod Tiwari expressing surprise over the CM’s com ments. ‘‘ Only she can explain her statement,’’ he said. But he agreed that she was prob ably trying to protect herself from future complications.