BJP HOLDS PROTESTS ACROSS STATE
PROTEST Party says won’t relent till BSP sacks Siddiqui. Women’s wing to stage protest on July 28
The BJP held day-long statewide protests on Saturday to press for the arrest of BSP leader Naseemuddin Siddiqui for having allegedly made objectionable remarks against Dayashankar Singh’s wife and daughter.
LUCKNOW/ALLAHABAD/VARANASI/ BAREILLY/AGRA:
The BJP held day-long statewide protests on Saturday to press for the arrest and dismissal of BSP leader Naseemuddin Siddiqui for having allegedly made objectionable remarks against Dayashankar Singh’s wife and daughter in retaliation to the now expelled BJP leader’s derogatory comment about former chief minister Mayawati.
After Saturday’s agitation, the BJP has decided to hold another round of protests by its women wing on July 28.
In the state capital, angry BJP workers were stopped by the police near the Raj Bhawan as they threatened to gherao the chief minister’s residence if he did not initiate action against Siddqui and other BSP leaders. Shouting anti-BSP slogans, the BJP men forced a minor confrontation with the police.
They also launched a protest in Kaiserbagh, where the party’s city office is located.
“Our cadre is protesting across the state. We took action against our leader for the remark. Now we expect her (Mayawati) to take similar action against her party leaders for their even more shocking conduct,” said general secretary of BJP youth wing Abhijat Mishra. He made it clear that the party had distanced itself from Singh.
“But what was the fault of women in Singh’s family? Why were they targeted?” The former BJP leader’s wife Swati Singh has already registered a case against BSP leaders Mayawati and Siddiqui.
The party workers raised the slogan – beti ke samman main bhajapa maidan main (BJP has taken to the streets for the daughter’s honour).
After Singh’s objectionable remark, the BSP cadres led by party general secretary Naseemuddin Siddiqui had raised equally offensive slogans against the former BJP leader’s wife, daughter and mother, the BJP claimed.
“We won’t relent till the BSP takes action against Siddiqui. Our women wing will now stage a massive protest against Siddiqui on July 28,” said UP BJP chief Keshav Prasad Maurya.
A team of BJP leaders also met governor Ram Naik demanding that Siddiqui be sacked not just as national general secretary of BSP but also removed from the post of leader of the opposition in the UP legislative council. Maurya said he was shocked at the BSP leader’s conduct.
“In full public view, top BSP leaders demanded that the wife and daughter of former BJP leader be brought before them. What was their fault?” asked Maurya.
The BJP members also staged demonstrations at the district headquarters in Varanasi, Jaunpur, Mau and Ballia in eastern UP on Saturday.
In Allahabad, BJP workers took out a march and staged a demonstration at the district collectorate.
Led by city unit president Avdesh Gupta and trans-Yamuna leader Subodh Singh, the party workers marched through various localities of the city. BJP MP Shyama Charan Gupta was among those who gathered at the district collectorate.
In Bareilly, around 200 supporters of BJP MP Dharmendra Kashyap and party lawmakers Arun Kumar and Chatrapal Singh staged a protest at Damodar park.
In Meerut, hundreds of BJP workers and leaders protested at the Collectorate and DM’s office. Women leaders and workers burnt the effigy of Naseemuddin Siddiqui at Ghantaghar crossing. “They have no right to insult any girl and woman,” said Hema Pant, vice president of BJP Mahanagar Unit.
In Agra, party workers marched towards the Collectorate and handed over a memorandum to the ADM city and SP city who reached the spot.
Meanwhile, incensed at the BSP men’s slur on Dayashankar’s family, people of the Kshatriya community in Agra came out in their support on Saturday. They marched to the district headquarters, demanding security for Dayashankar Singh’s family and sought action against those who made derogatory comments against his minor daughter.