Mayawati demands removal of Khattar govt.

Lucknow : BSP president Mayawati today demanded immediate removal of the Khattar government over the violence in Haryana, saying such "shameful surrender" to votebank politics needed to be condemned.

In a statement, she expressed deep anguish over the loss of lives in the state after the frenzied followers of the Dera Sacha Sauda head Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh went on a rampage within a few hours of the pronouncement of the judgement by a CBI court in the 2002 case."The Khattar government should be immediately dismissed for its absolute laxity and involvement leading to large-scale violence after the conviction of the Dera Sacha Sauda chief on rape charges," Mayawati said.

"This kind of shameful surrender for politics of vote needed to be condemned by all," she said. Mayawati alleged that the votebank politics of the BJP and the criminal negligence of the Manohar Lal Khattar government was responsible for the loss of lives.She alleged that the state government failed to follow the strict orders of the court in ensuring rule of law and it needed to be dismissed immediately but the Modi government and the top BJP leadership continued to be lax.

The BSP chief claimed that it was sad that the Haryana government was not ready to comply with court orders on auctioning the Dera's property to compensate for the losses but extended him VVIP treatment despite his conviction.

Mayawati asked Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the Army chief to take note that "Army was not used to control the situation but was only used for staging a flag march". Criticising BJP MP Sakshi Mahraj for his defence of the Dera chief, she alleged that such statements showed the BJP leaders' narrow thinking and mentality towards women.