UP Cong chief Lallu-Akhilesh meet create political ripples

Lucknow: Amidst controversy over alleged meeting of Uttar Pradesh Congress president Ajay Kumar ‘Lallu’ and media chairman of UPCC, Naseemudin Siddiqui with Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav, the party workers and leaders staged a protest against the irregularities in purchase of land by Shree Ram Mandir Trust in Ayodhya.

Earlier this week, former UPA minister Jitin Prasada left Congress to join Bharatiya Janta Party.

Demanding immediate removal of Lallu from the Party, former MLC Siraj Mehndi claimed that just at the behest of Priyanka Gandhi's secretary, Sandeep Singh, ten veteran Congress leaders, including him, were expelled from the Party without giving any reason. He said that more than one and half year had passed since then but none of the expelled leaders met any other Party leader in search of greener pasture as they were committed Congressmen but now those leading the Party in this biggest state going to polls just few months from now, had met the SP chief to look for lucrative alternative.

“The Party already went to the bottom so at least now Sonia Gandhi should see those who were concerned with the Congress and which leaders are playing in other Parties hands to finish the oldest political outfit”, asserted Mehndi here in a statement on Thursday demanding immediate removal of Lallu to save the Congress.

Sources said that an Urdu daily newspaper published a news item that Lallu and Siddiqui met Akhilesh Yadav but the UPCC chief made no denial in this regard.

A senior Party leader, however, claimed that two met Yadav at the behest of Priyanka Gandhi who is once again looking for an alliance with Samajwadi Party in 2022 Assembly elections.

Meanwhile, the Congress workers and leaders had staged a demonstration at all district headquarters in Uttar Pradesh to protest and demand a probe into alleged corruption in purchase of land by Shree Ram Mandir Trust in Ayodhya. The party leaders led by district president, Ved Prakash Tripathi and city presidents - Ajay Srivastava ‘Ajju’, Dilpreet Singh were going to give a memorandum to the President through the District Magistrate Lucknow when they were intercepted by the police. As they tried to move ahead, the cops used force after which the Congressmen sat on dharna in front of the Health Directorate. The cops later caned the workers to disperse them and also arrested several of them including Tripathi, Srivastava and Singh.

Through their memorandum, the Party demanded from the President that the matter should be investigated under the supervision of the Apex Court judge, paving the way for the construction of a grand temple of Lord Shree Ram by bringing the guilty to books. (UNI)