BSP workers hit the roads;
want Dayashankar arrested
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DALIT IMBROGLIO
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PTI LUCKNOW
Hundreds of BSP workers on Thursday took to the streets here demanding the immediate arrest of Dayashankar Singh for his derogatory remarks against party supremo Mayawati even as police carried out raids in Lucknow and Ballia to trace the now expelled BJP leader and detained his brother.
Leading the protest at the busy Hazratganj crossing, leader of opposition in the Legislative Council, Naseemuddin Siddiqui said the administration is being given 36 hours to arrest Singh.
The party workers held the protest for about five hours beginning 8 am. Siddiqui ended the protest around noon after giving the ultimatum to the District Magistrate that Singh be arrested quickly.
Police said raids have been conducted in Lucknow and Ballia to arrest Singh. In Ballia, Singh's brother Dharmendra was taken into custody from his house, SP, Manoj Jha said.
Since early morning party workers from different districts converged at the Ambedkar statue at the Hazratganj crossing on the call of the party to stage dharna against Singh.
In the dharna, which threw traffic out of for hours, a BSP worker was slightly injured while trying to set an effigy ablaze.
Singh had sparked an outrage by his derogatory comments against the BSP supremo. He had stated that “Mayawati is breaking the dream of Kanshi Ram into pieces. Mayawati is selling tickets like a...
Reacting to the protests, senior BJP leader and Union Minister Venkaiah Naidu said the issue is over and the BJP has already taken action against him.
“This issue is over. We took action against him. Now what else should we do, tell? What he said was completely objectionable. The leader of the House too condemned the statement at the earliest. He was removed from his post, and later on he was suspended also. Let them protest, they keep on protesting; be it Congress or others. The thing is that BJP is moving ahead, and they can't digest that,” he said.
The state's Samajwadi Party government has made it clear that action as per law will be taken against Singh on the basis of the FIR.
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BSP leader offers
Rs 50-L for BJP
leader's tongue
CHANDIGARH: Demanding the arrest of former Uttar Pradesh BJP vice-president Dayashankar Singh for making derogatory remarks against her party chief Mayawati, a local BSP leader Jannat Jahan-Ul-Haq Thursday offered Rs 50 lakh to anyone who brings his tongue.
As the BSP workers held a protest here on Thursday against Singh's remarks, Jannat Jahan, a party leader from here, courted controversy with her outburst.
“The derogatory language used by Dayashankar against our party chief shows the BJP's true character. They do not know how to respect women. They are anti-Dalits, anti-farmers too and now anti-women also. Such a person (Dayashankar) should be sent to jail immediately,” she said during the protest.
She then added, “Whosoever gets me his (Dayashankar's) tongue, Jannat Jahan will give him Rs 50 lakh.” The BSP leader's remarks evoked sharp reaction from BJP, which said the party had already acted against Dayashankar and the matter should not be politicised.
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Unrelenting Mayawati
* BSP chief Mayawati said sacking Dayashankar was not enough and BJP itself should have filed an FIR against him
* She alleged in Rajya Sabha that atrocities on Dalits are on the rise in BJP-ruled states in the name of cow protection
* She demanded that the centre should call an all-party meeting to find solution to this issue
* Referring to the incident of atrocity on Dalits in Gujarat, she said the state government should set up a separate team to conduct the inquiry in fast track mode
