Lucknow: UP Chief Minister Mayawati on Friday
dared Team Anna to fight the next general elections if it
wants the Jan Lokpal Bill to be passed in Parliament.
The BSP supremo asserted that BSP will not support Lokpal
Bill in Parliament till SC/ST and backward classes are
represented in the drafting panel.
Days after she extended support to Anna Hazare`s campaign,
the UP Chief Minister did a U-turn saying Team Anna should
contest the Lok Sabha polls in 2014 to get their Jan Lokpal
Bill passed instead of agitating at Ramlila ground.
She also asked the UPA and NDA to stop playing politics
over the issue and ensure that Anna Hazare ends his fast.
"BSP will not support Lokpal Bill till proper
representation of SC/ST and backward classes in the drafting
committee of the bill is ensured as per the Constitution,"
Mayawati told reporters here.
Advocating that only officials occupying top positions
should be brought in the ambit of the bill, she said the draft
should be worked out with consensus and passed by Parliament.
The Chief Minister said the bill should fulfil its aim of
curbing corruption and its provisions should be clear for
everyone to understand them.
Over the issue of inclusion of Prime Minister and
judiciary in the ambit of the bill, Mayawati said that the
party would support the decision of the majority in
Parliament.
A day after Hazare launched his indefinite fast on August
16, Mayawati had in a statement said, "BSP and its government
in UP is against corruption and criminalisation of the
politics since beginning and the party supports Anna Hazare in
his campaign."
Mayawati cautioned the Centre against "non-state" elements
that could violate law in the guise of the agitation and
warned of strict action against those who indulge in such
antics.
"The state government will take strict action against
those involved in any kind of violence during the ongoing
agitation in support of Jan Lokpal Bill," Mayawati said.
Stating that she had received information about communal
forces trying to amend Constitution to deprive the SC/ST of
their rights, Mayawati asked the Centre to ensure that its
intelligence agencies keep an eye on such elements.
PTI
