Raj Babbar dubs SP protests over Big B issue as 'political terror'

Varanasi, June 13 (UNI) Bollywood actor and Jan Morcha leader Raj Babbar today termed protests by the Samajwadi Party on the alleged Income Tax Department investigations into the property of superstar Amitabh Bachchan, as ''political terrorism,''.

''The violent protests by SP and the threats being given to the IT department by prominent leaders of the ruling party in Uttar Pradesh, amount to political terrorism and prove that this party was hell bent upon undermining the honour of government offices,'' the former SP MP said while addressing a public meeting in the Chandpur area here this evening.

The film actor turned MP from Agra further said that by promoting the cause of ''fixers and criminals'' within its fold, the SP had become politically bankrupt.

Over the statewide strike by SP in Uttar Pradesh over the issue of the petro price hike, Mr Babbar said that it was not a 'Bandh' activated by the party workers, but a strike enforced by the administration, which had become a ''puppet'' in the hands of the Mulayam Singh Yadav government.

''If the Mulayam Singh government was so sensitive to the petro price rise, why is it not lowering the taxes on petrol and diesel,'' questioned Mr Babbar.

The expelled SP leader further said that if the UP government decides at lowering taxes on petro products in the next 24 hours, the prices of petrol and diesel would go down by Rs 10 and Rs 6.25 respectively at one go, which was much more than the rise actuated by the UPA government.

Criticising the SP government for destroying the lives of commoners within the guise of development, Mr Babbar drew home the point of the hi-tech city proposed in the outskirts of Varanasi.

''The hi-tech city is being developed on fertile land being grabbed of forcefully from farmers in the area under the pressure of capitalists'' he alleged.

''The UP government talks of developing the state on the lines of US, but seems unaware of the fact that most successful American project of Silicon valley was developed on underdeveloped land and not fertile land,'' Mr Babbar claimed.

The UP government is working for furthering the interests of capitalist forces and not the larger cause of state population.

''Mulayam Singhji can best be labelled as Punjipati Putra and not Dharti Putra,'' Mr Babbar quipped.

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