Medha slams BJP for ‘raking up’ Ayodhya issue

Condemning the BJP for ‘working in favour of only the elite class’, Patkar said, “Their manifesto is restricted to bullet trains and projects pertaining to industrial corridors. These projects are against the interest of the common man and have not even got clearances.”

Attacking her BJP opponent Kirit Somaiya, who is contesting from the same constituency, Patkar said while talking about scams, he has always being silent on BJP’s Ajay Sancheti’s involvement in the Adarsh scam and Nitin Gadkari’s multi-crore business deals in connection to the sugarcane industry in the state.

“Somaiya, during his campaign, told the people that we are against development. Why is he quiet on Sancheti’s involvement in Adarsh and Nitin Gadkari in the sugarcane scam?” Patkar questioned. Patkar said her Lok Sabha nomination was confirmed by the Election Commission (EC) after the EC found that the complaint of concealing facts in her affidavit, which was filed against her by V K Saxena, president of NGO National Council for Civil Liberties, was “baseless” and “without any proof”. She alleged that Saxena was working in collusion with both the Congress and the BJP.

“Saxena spearheaded an attack to kill me in 2002. He has been filing complaints against me since the 1990s,” she alleged.

While attacking the Congress, she said the UPA in its 10-year regime had destroyed the public sector and privatised basic services like health, water, sanitation and other welfare majors through its new liberal reforms. “People’s movements have contributed to the formulation of many of the laws for which the UPA has claimed credit. However, these laws have lost teeth because of the government’s approach,” she added.

On the complaints against her, Patkar said that her party was considering taking action against Saxena, as according to her, “levelling false allegations before the EC was an attempt to sabotage”.

aamir.khan@expressindia.com