Mayawati plays God, repeals anti-mafia bill

Lucknow, Sep 5: Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati is above the President it seems. Without the assent, Mayawati has repealed the crime control bill in the state accusing Congress of double standards. Mayawati jumped to this action after Union Minister of State for Home, Sriprakash Jaiswal on Monday, Sep 1 confirmed that Centre will niot pass the Uttar Pradesh Control of Organised Crime Bill (UPCOCB).

After having been passed by the state Assembly on February 13, 2008, the bill has been awaiting presidential assent. "We have been able to curb crimes without the special act. Therefore it is hardly required," Mayawati declared at a press conference on Thursday, Sep 4. She, however, demanded to know that "how a law, which is considered perfectly valid in Maharashtra, could be trashed as draconian and useless in UP?"

"This only shows duplicity in the Congress party"s character," the CM said, adding that MCOCA must also be scrapped going by the same logic.

"Maharashtra, which has been ruled mostly by the Congress governments all along, has not been able to eliminate crime despite MCOCA," she said.

Targeting the lawlessness during Mulayamraj, the CM said that she had inherited a troubled legacy. "Loot, murder, decoity, kidnapping were order of the day during that time and criminal elements enjoyed protection by police and administration. The prevailing lawlessness and corruption during the SP rule, she said, posed a tough challenge and to bring the situation under the control 'we decided to formulate UPCOCB', she explained

However the Congress, which had supported a similar legislation in Maharashtra all along, protested when such a decision was taken, the CM said. The party, she said, needed to do some introspection and learn to follow what they preach. The duplicity shown by the Congress party over this particular issue, Mayawati said, was deplorable and needed to be condemned.

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