SP demands ban on Bajrang Dal

LUCKNOW: The Samajwadi Party president Mulayam Singh Yadav has demanded a ban on the saffron outfit Bajrang Dal. The former chief minister, who has often come out in support of Simi, said on Tuesday: ���If Simi has been banned, the Bajrang Dal should also be banned.���

He said that during his previous regimes there has been no evidence linking Simi to terrorist activities. ���When a ban was invoked on Simi I did not say anything, but I wonder why Bajrang Dal has not been banned till now.���

Bajrang Dal has recently been involved in attacks on Christians and churches in Orissa and Karnataka. Mr Yadav said that the Christian community has contributed invaluable service to the society and attacks on them are deplorable.

He also said that the recent terror attacks have no links with Azamgarh and the truth would emerge in an impartial probe.
He dismissed the allegations by chief minister Mayawati that it was during the SP regime that terror network took deep roots in the state, lending it a bad name. ���She does not understand issues like terrorism. It is an international phenomenon,��� he said.

Mr Yadav said that he had learnt that a hardcore terror mastermind had taken shelter in the state and since the Mayawati regime could not arrest him, he escaped.

He launched a tirade on the BSP regime calling the chief minister insensitive and accusing her of corruption. He said that the SP would launch a massive campaign against the ���land acquisition across the state.���

Yadav stressed that during his regime, land acquisition was done keeping the farmers will in mind. ���But this regime is hell bent on acquiring as much land as possible to appease certain corporate houses. Fertile land is being acquired for the Ganga Expressway project and the state government has planned that even if the project does not take off they would not return the acquired land to farmers.���

He demanded better remunerative prices for sugar cane, wheat and rice. Yadav said that the BSP regime was beset with corruption and was building huge memorials only to pocket commission from contractors.

���The BSP has raised a corpus of Rs 6,500 crore for the coming Lok Sabha elections and the money has come from kickbacks and unchecked corruption across the state.���