Raj Babbar’s ultimatum over Lallu’s arrest
LUCKNOW: Uttar Pradesh Congress Committee (UPCC) president Raj Babbar on Wednesday served a three-day ultimatum to the state government to release Congress Legislature Party leader Ajay Kumar Lallu from jail or else his party would launch a statewide agitation in Uttar Pradesh.
Lallu was arrested on charges of disturbing peace and indulging in rioting while staging a protest against ‘illegal mining’ near a dam on Gandak river in Tamkuhi Raj area of Kushinagar on April 6. Babbar had met Lallu in Deoria jail on Wednesday.
“We have identified 12 different points in the state. A statewide agitation will be launched across the state if Lallu is not released in next three days,” said Babbar while speaking to media persons here. “This is not an issue only related to Ajay Kumar Lallu. This concerns the people of state and shows how the mafia had been given a free hand,” he said. Babbar quoted two letters of irrigation department officials sent on February 2 and 5 to make his point that mining close to the dam had been declared illegal.
“There are technical reports declaring mining near the dam illegal. Why the district magistrate is not cancelling the mining lease. We do not know who is exerting pressure on him,” he asked. Congress MLC Deepak Singh and BSP’s Naseemuddin Siddiqui, who recently joined the Congress, said they would raise the issue of illegal mining in the Vidhan Parishad as well.