UP mayor dons burkha to meet Mayawati, fails

Supriya Aron, the mayor of Bareilly in Uttar Pradesh, on Wednesday claimed that local police officials had not allowed her to meet Chief Minister Mayawati during the latter's visit to the city.

Aron told mediapersons that she disguised herself in a burqa and sneaked out of her house to meet Mayawati. But she was intercepted by some policemen who forcibly took her to the office of the deputy inspector general of police, where she was detained till the departure of the chief minister, claimed Aron.

"My idea was to simply apprise the chief minister about certain problems faced by the city due to the lack of government support, but the administration refused to allow me to even leave my home, where I was literally kept under house arrest," said Aron.

"Even after I tried slipping out in a burqa, I was hauled up and kept under confinement at the DIG's office," she said.

"You can yourself imagine the extent of oppression in a place where even a democratically elected woman mayor is not allowed to convey the voice of the masses to a visiting CM," she lamented.

Aron alleged that Mayawti had turned the city into a 'curfew-bound area' during her visit.

Taking strong exception to the state government's arbitrary attitude, UP Congress spokesman Subodh Srivastava told rediff.com, "The chief minister's security is understandable but you cannot take it beyond all limits, where the common man is subjected to inhuman treatment. Even the city mayor, who is recognised as the first citizen, is physically prevented from meeting the visiting chief minister."