Amitabh, Jaya for Ash's bigger role in UP; Mulayam attacks BSP

Barabanki, UP, Jan 27 (UNI) Megastar Amitabh Bachchan and his actress wife Jaya Bachchan today pitched for a bigger role for their daughter-in-law Aishwarya Rai Bachchan in Uttar Pradesh even as Samajwadi Party supremo Mulayam Singh Yadav used the occasion of foundation stone laying of a school here to attack the Mayawati government.

Daulatpur village in this district of Uttar Pradesh welcomed the Bachchan clan and top leaders of the United National Progressive Alliance (UNPA) who reached here to lay the foundation stone of a girls' boarding school named after former Miss World and internationally acclaimed actress Aishwarya Rai Bachchan.

Addressing the gathering, the former Miss World said she was falling short of words to express her gratitude towards the people of Daulatpur. ''I kept on asking about the logic of naming the institution after me...I was told it was appropriate,'' she said.

Her mother-in-law and actress Jaya Bachchan explained it better by saying that the school was named after Aishwarya as a mark of respect for the people of UP who love their daughters and respect their daughters-in-law.

She also asked Aishwarya to keep visiting the school to cross-check its progress. The school, being built on the banks of river Ghagra, will start is session from July, 2009 and would follow the UP Board as well as the CBSE patterns. Since there was no girls' school in a 25 km radius, it would also impart vocational and employment-oriented courses for students in the coming years.

Even Big B said Aishwarya would have to dedicate some time for the upcoming school.

Though termed as an apolitical gathering, the event had its taste of politics as Mr Chautala referred to the recent victory of SP candidate in the Ballia Lok Sabha bypoll. ''Ballia has always shown the path of change...to end your miseries turn your cycles (SP's election symbol) towards Delhi,'' he said.

Former Chief Minister and SP supremo Mulayam Singh Yadav used the occasion to target the Mayawati government in the state. He said the annulment of the services of 18,000 police constables had led to several suicides in the state. ''When the SP returns to power, I will reinstate all of them from back date,'' he added.

Mr Yadav also criticised the government for introducing VAT regime and blamed it for spiralling prices of essential commodities.

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