Maya dares Team Anna to fight LS polls

Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati on Friday dared Team Anna to fight the next general elections if it wants the Jan Lokpal Bill to be passed in Parliament.

The Bahujan Samaj Party supremo asserted that her party will not support Lokpal Bill in Parliament till SC/ST and backward classes are represented in the drafting panel.

Days after she extended support to Anna Hazare's campaign, the UP chief minister did a U-turn saying Team Anna should contest the Lok Sabha polls in 2014 to get their Jan Lokpal Bill passed instead of agitating at Ramlila ground.

She also asked the UPA and NDA to stop playing politics over the issue and ensure that Anna Hazare ends his fast.

"BSP will not support Lokpal Bill till proper representation of SC/ST and backward classes in the drafting committee of the bill is ensured as per the Constitution," Mayawati told reporters in Lucknow.

Advocating that only officials occupying top positions should be brought in the ambit of the bill, she said the draft should be worked out with consensus and passed by Parliament.

The chief minister said the bill should fulfill its aim of curbing corruption and its provisions should be clear for everyone to understand them.

Over the issue of inclusion of Prime Minister and judiciary in the ambit of the bill, Mayawati said that the party would support the decision of the majority in Parliament.

A day after Hazare launched his indefinite fast on August 16, Mayawati had in a statement said, "BSP and its government in UP is against corruption and criminalisation of the politics since beginning and the party supports Anna Hazare in his campaign."

Mayawati cautioned the Centre against "non-state" elements that could violate law in the guise of the agitation and warned of strict action against those who indulge in such antics.

"The state government will take strict action against those involved in any kind of violence during the ongoing agitation in support of Jan Lokpal Bill," Mayawati said.

Stating that she had received information about communal forces trying to amend Constitution to deprive the SC/ST of their rights, Mayawati asked the Centre to ensure that its intelligence agencies keep an eye on such elements.