BJP demands transfer of criminal candidates to Tihar

Lucknow, Apr 15 (UNI) Alleging that the Mulayam Singh Yadav government in Uttar Pradesh was patronising anti-national and anti-social elements, the BJP today demanded the immediate transfer of criminal candidates in UP assembly polls to Tihar jail in New Delhi.

''Bharatiya Janata Party asks the Election Commission (EC) intervention in this regard as all those who are lodged in UP jails and contesting assmebly polls should be transferred to Tihar,'' senior party leader M Venkaiah Naidu told reporters here.

Without naming controversial mafia-turned legislator Mukhtar Ansari who is at present lodged in Ghazipur jail,the former BJP national president said it was shocking to know that the state governemnt was providing him full help to run his campaign from there. ''This is just one example of how the Mulayam Singh Yadav criminal-government nexus is spoiling the tranquility and harmony of the state,'' he said.

Mr Naidu said that it was no secret that the jailed independent candidate had blessings of the ruling Samajwadi Party and atleast 1,000 people used to visit him in the jail everyday. ''The BJP would approach the EC about this particular issue,'' he said.

The BJP leader claimed that there was a strong undercurrent in the favour of his party in the ongoing UP polls and this was mainly due to appeasement policies of the UP government. The patronage to criminal elements was also linked to the appeasement policies which had resulted into enhanced anti-natioanl activities on Indo-Nepal border, he said.

Mr Naidu also did not spare the UPA governemnt at the Centre for pursuing minority appeasement policies saying these coupled with steep rise in prices would cause undoings of the Central government.

''Even otherwise, the UPA is going to fall under its own weight as most of its allies are drifting away from it,''the former BJP President said while mentioning the statement of CPI leader A B Bardhan about forming a third front at the Centre.

He said the formation of a third front would mean the fall of UPA at the Centre and the BJP would welcome such a move.

UNI