Mayawati slams Centre over Jat protests

Barely 24 hours after the Allahabad high court expressed serious concern about her government's inaction to resolve the two-week old agitation by the Jat community seeking inclusion among backward castes, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati has chosen to blame the Centre for the spiraling protests.

Addressing a press conference on Saturday, Mayawati sought to take credit for removing the agitators from the railway tracks in parts of western UP, where services had been completely disrupted ever since members of the Jat community started their sit-in demonstration on March 5.

"We did not waste any time in getting the railway tracks cleared on Friday evening, shortly after the Allahabad high court issued directives in that regard, even though no support was forthcoming from the central government from whom we had sought assistance of 50 companies of paramilitary forces," the chief minister said.

"In the absence of the arrival of central forces, we managed to deploy our own policemen and ensured the restoration of order on railway tracks," she said.

Accusing the Centre of not being serious about resolving the issue, she added, "If the Centre wanted to sort out the whole issue, which was within its jurisdiction, then it would have taken the state government in the loop."

She said, "The state was not empowered to take any decision on the demand of the Jat community, otherwise the issue would not have been allowed to linger on in this manner."

Claiming that her government was truly concerned about the issue, she urged the Centre "to initiate immediate steps that would show that it is actually sensitive towards the long-pending demand of the Jat community."

She added, "Meanwhile, I have rushed one of my Cabinet ministers, together with the principal home secretary and the state director general of police, to hold talks with the agitators to prevent any fresh demonstration that would cause inconvenience to the common people".