Opposition attacks Mayawati move on local bodies polls

Lucknow, (IANS) Almost the entire opposition is up in arms against Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati's move to alter the existing system of elections to the state's local bodies.

Mayawati's office was tight-lipped about the proposal, but top opposition leaders of the state claimed that she was planning to discontinue the traditional practice of direct elections and ban contests on party lines.

The proposed plan is also to bring an end to the direct election of city mayors, who would in future be elected indirectly by the elected members of municipal bodies, opposition leaders said.

Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) veteran leader and Lucknow MP Lalji Tandon was the first to get the whiff of what he called the "secret" move, that seems to have angered all other key opposition parties. Tandon promptly held a press conference to condemn Mayawati for attempting to "undermine the role of political parties".

He said: "Mayawati was opposed to entry of parties in the local bodies elections simply because she was aware of her party's weak base in urban pockets."

Newly appointed state BJP president Surya Pratap Shahi also held a press conference to flay Mayawati's move.

Taking an obvious lead from Tandon's disclosure, Congress state chief Rita Bhauguna Joshi issued a strong statement Wednesday evening, sharply criticising the Uttar Pradesh chief minister.

"This is an attempt on Mayawati's part to throttle yet another key democratic institution; the practice of direct elections to local bodies was started in 1993, with the sole objective of building a healthy tradition and any move to bar parties from contesting these elections would be opposed tooth and nail," she said.

In a memorandum sent to the chief minister, Joshi urged her to withdraw the move, and warned that failing this "we will launch a statewide agitation".

Even Samajwadi Party has taken strong exception to the move. SP chief Mulayam Singh Yadav's younger brother, Leader of Opposition in the state assembly Shiv Pal Yadav told IANS: "We will not allow this to happen; this
is not only undemocratic but also aimed at twisting the whole system to the BSP's advantage."

According to him, "Mayawati's game plan would be to bait the winners and induct them into her party in the post-election scenario to establish the BSP's indirect hold over the local bodies and in turn take advantage of the situation at the time of the next assembly election in 2012."