SP alleges Cong hand behind desecration of Ambedkar Statue in UP

Lucknow, Dec 8 (UNI) Changing its stand over the desecration of Dr Bhimrao Ambedkar's statue in Kanpur and Allahabad, the ruling Samajwadi Party today blamed the Congress for the conspiracy to garner Dalit vote before the Assembly polls in Uttar Pradesh.

The party has also demanded a high level probe into the incident so that the culprits could be punished.

Senior SP leader and Lok Sabha member Beni Prasad Verma said here that he has specific information about the role of the Congress behind the crime.

''Ms mayawati also knows that Congress was behind the incident but she is blaming the SP for political reasons'', he said.

Talking to mediapersons, Mr Verma said the conspiracy of the Congress was to attract the Dalit vote bank and it did not have the sanctions of party president Sonia Gandhi or Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.

Earlier, the SP leaders had indirectly accused the BSP for the deceseration of the Ambedkar's statue at Kanpur and Allahabad.

Mr Verma said a memorandum by the party leaders was given to President APJ Abdul Kalam today at the Rashtrapati Bhawan demanding recalling of the state governor immediately for being involved in political activities.

The memorandum also objected to the opposition's demand of President's rule in the state during the elections saying that how can a democratically elected government be dismissed when it enjoys full majority in the assembly.

UNI MB ATI SK RAI1909