Speaking at Sankalp maha rally in the Yadav bastion of Etawah, BJP chief Amit Shah on Thursday raised eyebrows when he promised that if his party came to power in Uttar Pradesh, it would replicate a “Kalyan Singh-type of government.”
Though Mr. Shah referred to Mr. Kalyan Singh’s government in the context of law and order, the latter’s tenure is remembered for the Babri Masjid demolition by kar sevaks on December, 1992, leading to his resignation as CM on “moral grounds”.
Responding to the speech, BSP leader Mayawati condemned Mr. Shah’s remark, saying that promising a Kalyan Singh-type government was an “insult” to the people of U.P. as it had to resign for an "unconstitutional act", "poor law and order and contempt of the Supreme Court." Though she did not mention the Babri Masjid, her inference was clear.
Addressing the rally at Etawah’s Numaish Maidan, barely 20 km from Saifai, the ancestral village of SP supremor Mulayam Singh, Mr. Shah claimed his party was the best alternative to end the State’s law and order woes and evoked the Kalyan Singh government as a model.
Attacking the SP and BSP governments for the poor law and order situation in the State, Mr Shah said mafia elements flourished under their regimes. Mr. Shah referred to the merger of controversial leader Mukhar Ansari’s Quami Ekta Dal with the SP.
However, Mr. Shah did not stop there, going on to mention his brother Afzal Ansari, SP leaders Azam Khan and Ateeq Ansari, and Naseemuddin Siddiqui (BSP) in the same breath.
“We have none (of these leaders). There is no place for goons in the BJP. We are a party of deshbhakts (patriots),” the BJP chief said.
Mr. Shah also made a direct reference to the Sepetmber 29 surgical strikes across the LoC, hailing the BJP government for “honouring the martyrs.” “It was the first time since independence that the army went across the border and terminated terrorists. They did a great job. I am proud of that," Mr. Shah said.
