Samajwadi Party calls for state bandh today

LUCKNOW: The Samajwadi Party has given a call for a state-wide bandh on August 8 to protest the bomb attack on Apna Dal MLA Atiq Ahmad and the imposition of Gangster Act on party worker Arvind Singh Gope. Dharnas and demonstrations will also be staged at all district headquarters.
Addressing a press conference, state president Ram Sharan Das said the attack on Ahmad should be condemned in the strongest possible terms and could not be taken lightly as it was an attack on democracy.He said there was a conspiracy to eliminate Atiq Ahmad and demanded that he be kept in jail for ensuring the security of his life. The state unit of Apna Dal has also condemned the attack on party legislator Atiq Ahmad in the strongest possible terms. Referring to chief minister Mayawati’s statement that there was a conspiracy to eliminate her, he said it was in effect the preparation of ground for the elimination of Atiq Ahmad. He demanded that Mayawati be dismissed under section 120 B for being one of the conspirators.
During dharnas the party would also raise the demand for the dismissal of the chief minister, he added. Das alleged the chief minister was conspiring to either put the SP leaders in jail or get them killed. He said the party’s persistent demand to raise the security-cover for state general secretary Shivpal Singh Yadav had not been acceded to. He added there was a threat to Yadav’s life also and in this connection alleged that some officers of the secretariat were giving shelter of criminals.
On the imposition of Gangsters Act on Arvind Singh Gope, Das said Mayawati was in no position to do so, in view of the fact that her party itself was full of people with criminal records. Meanwhile, SP youth activists created a minor ruckus on the LU campus as news about imposition of Gangsters Act on Gope came in.