Samajwadi Party MP embarrasses UP govt

The Samajwadi Party (SP) government in Uttar Pradesh, which has been embarrassed by the acts of its own leaders, suffered another chagrin on Saturday, when party MP Brijbhushan Sharan Singh declared in public that he is no Gandhi but mafia.

What made Sharan Singh’s declaration more embarrassing was that it was delivered on the office premises of the police chief of Uttar Pradesh's Baharaich district, about 250 kilometers from here.

The MP, who has a long criminal history, had organised a dharna inside the police official’s office on Saturday to protest against the alleged “persecution of innocent people” by the district police.

“I am not doing gandhigiri (a slang expression for peaceful protest popularised by bollywood flick ‘Lage Raho Munna Bhai’)...it is mafiagiri,” Singh said when asked whether he was resorting to “gandhigiri”.

“Hum Gandhi nahin hain...hum to mafia hain...hamare khilaf chalis mukadmen hain...badmash admi Gandhi kahan ho sakta hai” (I am no Gandhi...I am a mafia.....there are 40 cases pending against me... how can a bad person be Gandhi?), Singh added.

The district magistrate and the police chief tried to persuade Singh to call off his protest but he did not relent. “The police do not take action on the complaints of the victims even after their applications are sent to them by me,” he said and added that he has briefed Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav about the law and order situation in the district.
The SP leader finally called off his dharna a few hours later.

The leaders of the ruling party have repeatedly embarrassed the government by their deeds notwithstanding the stern warnings from the party supremo Mulayam Singh Yadav.
PWD minister and Akhilesh's uncle Shivpal Singh Yadav stirred up a controversy by his speech at a meeting of the officials where he allegedly advocated graft: “You can steal a little if you work hard.” Another minister Raj Kishore Singh had threatened to “kill” the officials if they indulged in corruption.

Senior minister Azam Khan also embarrassed the chief minister by his outbursts when he dubbed the cops as “dalals” (middlemen). Minister for basic education Ram Govind Chaudhary was in the spotlight for advocating caning at schools.

Mulayam Singh had convened a meeting of the ministers recently where he gave them tips on governance and discipline.