Stoking the controversy over a proposed rail coach factory in Sonia Gandhi's constituency, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati on Wednesday accused Congress of trying to take political mileage from the project ahead of Lok Sabha polls and ordered a probe into farmers' complaints on land acquisition.
A day after Gandhi declared in Rae Bareli that she was willing to go to jail for the sake of development after the authorities imposed prohibitory orders apparently to scuttle her plans to hold a rally there, Mayawati, launching a counter offensive, announced a 'maharally' to apprise people about the 'impediments created by the Centre' in developmental schemes.
"Congress is worried only about Rae Bareli but I am worried about the whole of Uttar Pradesh," Mayawati told a press conference in Lucknow, while countering Gandhi's charges that her government was against development after it cancelled a land allotment for the railway coach factory.
Taking a pot-shot at the Congress chief for terming Rae Bareli and Amethi as 'karmbhoomi of Firoze, Indira and Rajiv Gandhi and now that of her and Rahul', Mayawati asked as to how many jobs "have been given to people of Rae Bareli in past 44 years of Congress rule in Uttar Pradesh and 48 years of rule at the Centre".
"The bhoomipujan for the project is a mere drama for taking political mileage ahead of Lok Sabha elections," the BSP supremo said.
"Like Saifai was entire state for Samajwadi Party, Rae Bareli and Amethi are the entire state for Congress. There are already a number of factories in the district, Congress should think beyond Rae Bareli and avoid regional imbalance," Mayawati said.
