BSP denying right to vote to minorities, says Mulayam

Lucknow, Nov 17 (UNI) Samajwadi Party president Mulayam Singh Yadav today urged the Election Commission to take action against the ruling Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), which was reportedly hatching a conspiracy not to inlcude the names of minority and other backward classes in the electoral roll.

''This is nothing less than a crime against the democracy and such people should be dealt with a heavy hand,'' the SP supremo told the meeting of district and city presidents at the party office here.

Mr Yadav called upon his party cadre to expose such politicians and officers, who were working against the interest of minority and backwards. ''Denying the right to vote to minorities members or anyone else is a condemnable act and could only be done by those parties, which have no faith in the constitution and democratic norms prevailing in the country,'' he said.

Alleging the Mayawati-led BSP government had dictatorial strings attached to it and it shamefully lacked the democratic character, the former Uttar Pradesh chief minister said SP would repulse this design in an emphatic manner and would not allow the BSP to play with the sentiments of Muslims.

He stressed the need of strengthening the party organisation down to booth level. ''Such organistaional mechanism is necessary, if the party desires to send at least 50 members to Lok Sabha in the coming polls.'' Mr Yadav sought to equate both the BSP and BJP in the terms of anti-democratic character and said both parties were bane to the communal and cast harmony in the country.

UNI SB JAS ARB GC1811