Rahul Gandhi slams Mayawati government for sacking ministers ahead of polls

LAKHIMPUR KHERI (UP): Congress leader Rahul Gandhi today ridiculed Mayawati government's decision to sack four ministers a day after the announcement of assembly polls in the state, wondering why she had not acted against them earlier.

"It is astonishing that just a month ahead of UP polls, these ministers were sacked while they were given four to five years to act on their own," he told an election meeting here.

"Why did the Chief Minister fail to identify these ministers two, three or four years back?. Why did she not sack them then?," he asked.

The Congress general secretary, who is on the third leg of his mass contact programme in the state, also flayed those who have dubbed his stays at dalit houses as "drama".

"If this is drama, I will continue to do this drama life-long," he said.

Asserting that he was not here "to win elections but to change the face of UP" whether it takes five years or 10 years, Gandhi urged people to vote his party to power in the state.

Listing the achievements of the Congress-led UPA government at the Centre, he said the MGNREGA had benefited poor people across the country.

"However, in UP, the scheme has benefited only the 'magical elephant' sitting in Lucknow which has consumed all the money of the poor," he said referring to irregularities in implementation of MGNREGA.