BSP, SP failed to live up to people's expectations: Rahul

Alleging that the Bahujan Samaj Party and Samajwadi Party have failed to live up to the expectations of the people, Congress General Secretary Rahul Gandhi on Thursday said a change was needed by forming a government which works for all.

"You believed in BSP last time what did you get. Did you get roads, power, development, employment. Before it you believed in the SP did you get power, justice from the police stations", Gandhi asked the people at a public meeting inh Balrampur.

On Mulayam, the Congress General Secretary said when he found that he may lose power in the last Assembly elections, he suddenly shook hands with former Bharatiya Janata Party leader Kalyan Singh.

Singh was the chief minister of Uttar Pradesh when Babri Masjid was demolished.

"You would remember that when the SP government was in power in the state, criminals used to run police stations and First Information Reports were not lodged", he alleged.

He also said that Mulayam's party was not seen in the fight for farmers when they lost their land. Gandhi, who is into the third day of his five-day tour in the state, said both BSP and SP run the government for "10 per cent" of the population while the remaining "90 per cent keep looking around".

Promising that his party would form a government which would work for the entire 100 per cent, he said it would be a government of all castes and religions and work for development and growth.

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Continuing his attack on the UP government for "misuse" of central funds, he alleged crores of rupees being sent by the Centre was going in the pockets of BSP workers,  ministers and bureaucrats and the poor people got no benefit.

The Congress General Secretary, who launched his campaign for the UP polls earlier this month from Phulpur, also accused the SP and BSP of jeopardising the Land Acquisition Bill.

"We gave the Bundelkhand package of Rs 3,000 crore. BSP has eaten up all this money...I get angry, I become sad (at the state of affairs in UP). This government is operating for just 10 per cent of the people," he charged.

Taking on Mayawati, Gandhi claimed her government acquired a large track of farmers' land for builders and when farmers opposed, they had to face police firing.

"There was firing in Thappal and Bhatta-Parsaul. Women had to face atrocities in Bhatta-Parsaul. Did you see SP there? Who opposed it? Who went on padyatra? We fought for  the farmers. We held the hands of farmers and walked together. The opposition was silent.

"Now we have brought the Land Acquisition Bill. But there is opposition to the bill. The opposition parties do not want it. They won't come in open and oppose it. They are stalling it in the Parliamentary Standing Committee," he said.

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Gandhi said the MGNREGS scheme has been lauded by people  in all parts of the country, but when it was started in UP, Chief Minister Mayawati in a speech termed it as an "unnecessary programme which would not benefit anyone".

"If Mayawati visits villages, moves among the poor, women and common people and asked whether they were getting its benefit, she would get the answer in each village of UP," he said.

Gandhi said till leaders did not visit the homes of common people, eat with them, drink water from their wells and not fall ill because of it, they would not get to know about poverty and their sufferings.

On lack of opportunities in Uttar Pradesh, he said people from here go to Bangalore, Haryana, Delhi and Mumbai for employment.

Referring to his journey by train from Gorakhpur to Mumbai with labourers going there for work, he said he was told that Shiv Sena had "threatened" them and asked them to leave.

He also alleged that people have to pay bribes under the BSP government and cited the case of a woman, who instead of getting Rs 1,400 under the Janani Suraksha Yojna, was  asked to pay Rs 1,000 to get her new born.

The Congress leader also said that fertiliser being sent by the Centre were not reaching farmers and were landing in Nepal and being sold in the black market.