New Delhi: Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati on Saturday hit out at Pilibhit MP Maneka Gandhi for politicising the Varun Gandhi row.
The Chief Minister hit out at Maneka Gandhi for saying that she (Mayawati) doesn't understand the pain of a mother.
"Menaka forgets that even without being a mother you can understand pain of a million people just like Mother Teresa did. Menaka is so absorbed in love for her one son that she forgot that if there were any communal riots over Varun Gandhi's statement many mothers would have lost their sons," Mayawati said at her rally on Saturday.
Mayawati added that Maneka Gandhi should seek a pardon for her statements.
Former union minister and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Maneka Gandhi had been asked not to meet her son and the party's Lok Sabha candidate from Pilibhit Varun Gandhi, who is in Etah jail in Uttar Pradesh.
"I want to make it clear we have not issued any prohibitory orders. We have just requested Maneka Gandhi that she should not meet her son Varun as per the jail administration rules," District Magistrate Gaurav Dayal stated.
"According to rules, only two meetings with jail inmates are allowed in a week. And in the case of Varun, these two meetings have already been conducted," said Dayal. Of the two meetings with Varun, the first was organised Wednesday with her mother Maneka Gandhi, while the second took place on Thursday with three leaders of BJP, officials said.
"We have just requested Maneka Gandhi that she should not visit this week in the (Etah) jail to meet her son and abide by the general rules of the jail administration. I am nobody to prevent a mother (Maneka Gandhi) from meeting her son," Dayal added.
However, the issue gained momentum when Maneka, in a statement to a news channel called the restriction as "frivolous" and "the result of political vendetta".
"Mayawati is not mother that's why she would not understand a mother's pain," Maneka Gandhi had said.
Later, taking up the cue, some local saffron brigade leaders came out with plans for widespread agitations beginning Saturday morning.
In no mood to grant the saffronites a political mileage, the state government on Friday evening issued a written clarification stating that no restrictions whatsoever have been imposed on Maneka meeting her son.
Varun Gandhi is in jail as he faces charges under the National Security Act following campaign speeches vilifying Muslims that have purportedly been delivered by him.
Anyone booked under NSA cannot get bail for at least six months and the time frame could extend up to one year. The decision to move Varun to Etah jail was reportedly taken after the Intelligence Bureau unearthed a Dawood Gang plot to kill him.
Varun has been alleging inhuman treatment at Etah jail. His supporters are already running an SMS campaign. Some of the SMSes read: "Maya has no 'mamta'. Why is Maneka Gandhi denied access to Varun?" Another SMS read: "Stand against attack on democracy by Mayawati Government by unwarranted imposition of the NSA on Varun Gandhi."
0 comments:
Post a Comment