The slanging match between the ruling Bahujan Samaj Party and the Samajwadi Party, the main Opposition party, intensified on Thursday with both parties claiming to outdo each other on the streets.
UP chief minister Mayawati warned the Samajwadi Party president Mulayam Singh Yadav that if he tried to disrupt the law and order situation by announcing another agitation, the government would deal even more firmly with him and his party workers.
“During their three day agitation, the Samajwadis tried their best to establish jungle raj in UP but the police did not allow them to do so,” the BSP leader said.
Leader of the Opposition Shivpal Singh Yadav immediately announced that he and his party was ready to accept Ms Mayawati’s challenge.
“We have already accepted her challenge. She is talking of the Samajwadis trying to create mayhem but the truth is that our party workers did not cause damage to anyone or any property. Our agitation was completely peaceful. This government has lost its patience and mental balance because it knows it is on its way out,” he said.
Mr Yadav, along with several other party leaders, was injured when the police resorted to lathi-charge outside the district jail on Thursday morning. Mr Yadav received injurious in the head and the jaw while his gunner was also hit on the head. “I am the Leader of the Opposition and this is the kind of protocol that the government believes in,” he said.