RLD decries bureaucracy for attending SP function

Lucknow, Sep 2 (UNI) Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD), an ally of the Samajwadi party-led ruling dispensation in Uttar Pradesh, today joined the issue about state bureaucracy participating in political functions urying the officers to refrain from doing so.

''It is not the work of the bureaucracy to praise their political masters. They are only expected to implement government's policies and programmes,'' said RLD president Ajit Singh, whose support to the Mulayam Singh Yadav government has been a point of speculation in the political circles these days.

It was improper for senior officials to attend functions in the party office and also make statements in favour of the government, he said immediately after meeting state Governor T V Rajeswar this morning.

''I am entirely against the officers attending political functions as they are part of the government and not the ruling party,'' Mr Singh said.

The issue was kicked off by the Congress, BJP and BSP over the presence of Chief Secretary Naveen Chandra Bajpai and other senior officials attended function organised by the S P on the occasion of Mulayam Singh's three years in office.

Earlier, Jaunpur District Magistrate Anurag Yadav was under the scanner to have travelled on cycle, incidentally the election symbol of the ruling Samajwadi party.

Congress was the first to react to the issue alleging the Uttar Pradesh bureaucracy had totally been politicised with the Chief Secretary himself attending a political function.

BSP president Mayawati , who was here yesterday, also made a sweeping remark in her own aggressive style saying, ''Yeh Adhikari Istifa de kar rajniti kyo nahi karte (Why not these officers resign and enter politics?).'' Mr Ajit Singh said officers were not supposed to serve political interests of their masters.

to a query, the RLD leader said he was not going to make any complaint in this regard. ''I have read somewhere, that the Union Personnel Department is already planning some action against the officials on this count,'' he added.

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