Amar wants Lalu, Paswan to quit; Maya action by Centre

New Delhi, Oct 29 (UNI) The attack on north Indians in Maharashtra today gave a common cause to arch rivals Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister and BSP supremo Mayawati and Samajwadi Party General Secretary Amar Singh when both of them demanded immediate action by the Centre in the matter.

Close on the heels of the killing of a Bihar youth Rahul Raj in a police encounter in Mumbai, the lynching of a UP youth Dharamdev Rai in the Maharashtra capital has provoked strong reaction from the leaders of the two states.

The UP youth, from Sant Kabir Nagar district, died after he was severely beaten on a sub-urban train in Badlapur in Mumbai yesterday, when he was coming to UP along with his three friends.

While Ms Mayawati shot off a letter to the Prime Minister, demanding a probe into the matter, and strict action against the guilty, Mr Amar Singh demanded resignation of Bihar leaders Ram Vilas Paswan and Lalu Prasad from the Cabinet.

He said Mr Paswan and Mr Prasad should own their failure for not being able to make the Centre act despite being part of the Government.

The SP leader said a delegation of leaders from Uttar Pradesh and Bihar should visit Maharashtra to boost the confidence of the people from these states living there.

Mr Singh said the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena chief Raj Thackeray by preaching hatred against north Indians was setting into motion a dangerous trend that would tear the country apart.

He wondered as to why Maharashtra chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh was looking helpless in the matter.

UNI NAZ AKJ HT1635