Maya threatens to withdraw support

Bahujan Samaj Party leader and Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati today accused "some Congress leaders in Delhi" of conspiring with 'mafia gangs' that were out to eliminate her. She also threatened to withdraw support to the UPA at the Centre anytime after January 15.

Mayawati's attack came after some middle-rung Congress leaders criticised the BSP chief in the aftermath of the Gujarat elections and the terrorist strike in a CRPF camp in Rampur.

Mawayati named Atiq Ahmad, a former BSP legislator, who is wanted in a murder case, as one of the "mafia dons" who was out to kill her. The BSP leader alleged that Ahmad, who is "underground" was not being arrested by the CBI as he was "protected by some Congress leaders in Delhi".

"I want to make it clear today if anything untoward happens to me, the Congress should be blamed for it," she said.

Mayawati's immediate provocation for making such serious allegations seems to be the delay by the Centre on her government's request to raise her security cover in view of threats to her life.

"The Centre is privy to all the threats to my life and yet it is not upgrading my security," she said and warned that if anything happened to her, "the Congress would face a terrible backlash".

Mayawati said that in view of the Centre's callous attitude towards her, the BSP had decided to review its support to the UPA government at the Centre after January 15. The party has 19 MPs in the Lok Sabha and seven in the Rajya Sabha.

The Congress dismissed her charges as preposterous and said it was not in the government's hands to give protection as the Special Protection Group (SPG) was mandated by an Act of Parliament to give protection to only a certain category of people.

If the UP CM's threat perception had to be enhanced, it was to be a decision taken jointly by the Union and the state governments. The Congress party came nowhere in the picture, said Congress general secretary Digvijay Singh.

But painting the Congress and the BJP with same brush, Mayawati said both parties had tried to tarnish her image by registering fake corruption cases against her.