SP, BSP tango in Parliament to defend Akhilesh

Arch-rivals SP and BSP on Monday joined hands to attack the Modi government over reports of CBI putting former Uttar Pradesh chief minister Akhilesh Yadav under scanner over allegations of illegal mining in the state.

The show of unity came after Samajwadi Party (SP) president Akhilesh met BSP supremo Mayawati over the weekend to thrash out a seat-sharing agreement in Uttar Pradesh for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections.

SP and BSP leaders led joint protests in the Rajya Sabha accusing the Modi government of carrying out “political vendetta” after the rivals decided to enter a pre-poll alliance against the BJP in Uttar Pradesh. The BJP had won 71 of the 80 seats in the state that helped it register comfortable majority on its own in the 2014 elections.

In the Lok Sabha, SP member Dharmendra Yadav said the CBI decision to put Akhilesh under the scanner has come only after he met Mayawati over the weekend to finalise the seat-sharing for the upcoming elections.

After registering protests in the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha, SP and BSP leaders walked together to the media stands in Parliament premises for a joint press conference.

“An Uttar Pradesh minister comes to Delhi and then demand the CBI investigation against Yadav. This clearly shows that it is on the Centre's indication and the CBI is being used in a wrong way before the Lok Sabha elections,” senior SP leader Ram Gopal Yadav said.

BSP leader Satish Chandra Mishra slammed the BJP for unleashing the CBI on political rivals as their coalition partners were deserting them.

“In land-mafia case, FIR is against the officer who violated the law in allotment process. How does that make then CM Akhilesh Yadav responsible for it? Their (BJP) partners are leaving them, their new alliance is with CBI,” Mishra told reporters here.

Mishra said the real intention of the Modi government was to divert the attention of the people from real issues.