LUCKNOW: Uttar Pradesh (UP) chief minister Mayawatis parental village Badalpur in Gautam Buddha Nagar of west UP has suddenly become the epicentre of a political battle between the ruling Bahujan Samaj Party and arch rival Samajwadi Party (SP).

Four farmers were killed in police firing in Greater Noida last Wednesday. The farmers were demanding better compensation for their land acquired by the Greater Noida Authority (GNDA).

On Monday, Bharatiya Kisan Union leader Mahendra Singh Tikait was detained with hundreds of supporters for trying to march to the GNDA office for a sit-in.

In the UP Vidhan Sabha, aggressive SP legislators created ruckus and disrupted proceedings on the opening day of the assembly session. They wanted to raise the matter relating to the acquisition of farmers land in Badalpur.

Mayawati retaliated alleging the SP was stage-managing the protests. "The process of acquisition was started by the Mulayam government. My government has, in fact, paid a higher compensation to the farmers (compared to the previous regime)," she said.
Inside the assembly, the Congress supported SP, demanding the resignation of Mayawati on the issue of firing on farmers in Greater Noida.

SP members threw paper balls at the chair and had scuffles with House guards when the speaker refused speech to Mulayam.

As soon as the assembly convened, Mayawati stood up to announce the implementation of the sixth pay commission recommendations for state government employees, but SP members insisted all rules of the House be suspended to initiate a debate on the Greater Noida firing.

Mayawati read a part of her statement and left the House saying the rest of the text be deemed read, after which the House had to be adjourned for over an hour. When the House re-assembled, Mulayam insisted the Greater Noida issue be taken up without delay, but parliamentary affairs minister Lalji Varma said the issue should be taken up after other listed legislative business.

This again led to acrimonious scenes with Mulayam alleging the government had "blood on its hands" and was deliberately avoiding the issue. "Not a single farmer suffered at the hands of the administration during our regime," he said.

Varma retaliated saying firing on innocent farmers and workers in Dalla and Churk, Rampur Tiraha and Ayodhya had taken place during Mulayam regimes. This only added fuel to the fire and SP members initiated another round of ruckus.

Source : DNA