Farmers Movement Archive

Uttar Pradesh: Mayawati picks Uma Shankar Singh as party leader in House

LUCKNOW: A day after Mubarakpur MLA Shah Alam resigned as leader of legislative party and quit the party, BSP chief Mayawati replaced him with two-term MLA from Rasra, Uma Shankar Singh. Singh, who belongs to Ballia district, was disqualified during his first term by Governor Ram Naik for alleged violation of the Representation of the People Act after he was accused of taking tenders for road construction ever after being elected MLA. He successfully challenged the order in the Supreme Court and was eventually reinstated. On Saturday, BSP also boycotted Constitution Day celebrations across the country, which were organised either by the Centre or any of the state governments. The party chief said that neither the Centre nor state governments had any right to celebrate the day as they were clearly not following the Constitution in letter or spirit. “It has been years since the Constitution was drafted but even today, the provisions made in it by Dr BR Ambedkar for the weak and neglected sections of society, like reservation in education and government jobs etc, are still not benefitting those they were meant for,” Mayawati said, adding that people from such sections should be wary of all parties like the Samajwadi Party which in Parliament tore the bill on SC/ST reservation and then conspired to not let it pass. “Such parties can never actually do anything for the development or upliftment of such classes. The reservation quota for SC/ST and OBCs is lying unused in most departments because of which those who are being deprived of its benefits have been forced to protest. No arrangement has been made to provide reservation for them in private jobs and no government is willing to make a law on this,” she said. The former UP chief minister also said that laws meant to ensure progress and security of people of the various faiths who live in India were also not being implemented properly. Not just that, she said, poverty and inflation were also rising, the brunt of which was being borne by the poor and middle class people. “On Constitution Day, a year of the farmers’ protest was also completed. Recently, the Centre repealed the three contentious farm laws though this should have been done much earlier. The government should now accept the other demands of the farmers as well. The central and state governments should assess seriously whether they are genuinely following the constitution in letter and spirit. Our party believes that they are not,” she added.

The Times of India

2021-11-27

Lucknow