Kazmi returns to SP

Talking to reporters at the state SP office today,Kazmi said he had left the SP for his differences with the party over the issue of Kalyan Singh. “The tie-up of the SP with the former BJP chief minister Kalyan Singh,whom Muslims hold guilty for the demolition of the Babri masjid,left no option for me but to part company with the party,” said Kazmi adding that “since the party has severed its relations with Kalyan Singh long back there is no reason for me to stay out of the SP.”

Kazmi claimed that he has great regard for the party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav for his secular credentials and his commitment to the upliftment of the minorities. He said the Muslim leaders in the BSP are nothing more than bonded labours of the party and even a senior minister like Naseemuddin Siddiqui,who holds over half a dozen portfolio,have no say in the party affairs. He claimed that the situation is much different in the SP where a common party worker has access to top party leaders.

Welcoming Kazmi in the party Shivpal Singh Yadav said the homecoming of the former advocate general would send a positive signal. Targeting Chief Minister Mayawati,he said the rule of law has collapsed in the state and right from top to the rank and file of the BSP — all were engaged in extortion and looting the common people and the state exchequer.

The BSP,meanwhile,denied the charges leveled by the SP leader against the state government. A BSP spokesman said today that before leveling charges against the BSP government,the SP should do some introspection and look at the jungle law and anarchy which prevailed during their regime,under the leadership of Mulayam Singh. The spokesman alleged that during the SP regime goondas and criminals ruled the roost in the state.