Congress condemns Mayawati over violence threat

July 28th, 2009 LUCKNOW - The Congress Tuesday reiterated its demand for a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) probe into the attack on the house of Uttar Pradesh party chief Rita Bahuguna Joshi, who was arrested July 15 for making derogatory remarks against Chief Minister Mayawati. "If the probe is not ordered we will launch a statewide protest.

July 20th, 2009 LUCKNOW - Rita Bahuguna Joshi, the Congress chief in Uttar Pradesh whose house was set on fire following her remarks against Chief Minister Mayawati, Monday said there was a "grave threat to her security" and that her life was in danger. "I have grave threat to my security and she (Mayawati) can plan attacks on me.

July 20th, 2009 NEW DELHI - Samajwadi Party general secretary Amar Singh says "I agree" with what Uttar Pradesh Congress chief Rita Bahuguna Joshi said against Chief Minister Mayawati. "I agree with what Rita had said.

July 18th, 2009 LUCKNOW - Continuing the verbal sparring with the Congress, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati Saturday hit out at Congress general secretary Rahul Gandhi for his comments against her government, saying the Congress should "first set its own house in order before accusing others". On Rahul Gandhi's support for the Congress' state chief Rita Bahuguna Joshi, who was arrested and sent to judicial custody for her remark against the chief minister, Mayawati said it would have been better if Rahul Gandhi had commented instead on Joshi's book criticising Congress leaders.

July 16th, 2009 LUCKNOW - Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati Thursday targeted Congress president Sonia Gandhi for her "silence" after state Congress chief Rita Bahuguna Joshi's "highly condemnable remarks" against her and also accused the Congress party of engineering an attack on Joshi's residence here. Terming Joshi's earlier remarks as "objectionable, reprehensible and highly condemnable", she said: "The BSP (Bahujan Samaj Party) as a whole condemns Joshi in the strongest of words.

July 16th, 2009 NEW DELHI - Congress President Sonia Gandhi expressed regret over the remarks made by UP Congress chief Rita Bahuguna Joshi against Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati, but at the same time described the actions of the Uttar Pradesh Government as high handed. Earlier in the day, Mayawati condemned Gandhi for remaining silent on the Joshi incident, and said it was shameful that she had not taken any action against Joshi.

June 30th, 2009 LUCKNOW - Asking the central government to make public the Liberhan Commission report , Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati Tuesday alleged that the Congress was as much responsible as the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) for the 1992 demolition of the Babri Masjid in Ayodhya. "Timely intervention by the Congress, which was ruling at the centre at that time, could have prevented the demolition of the Babri Masjid," Mayawati told reporters here.

June 17th, 2009 NEW DELHI - The Congress Wednesday demanded an apology from Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati for making "derogratory" remarks that Mahatma was a "natakbaaz" (a fake). The remarks made by Mayawati about the Father of Nation are highly condemnable.

June 8th, 2009 LUCKNOW - Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati continues to draw flak for what was termed as "tampering" with the Right to Information (RTI) Act to systematically deny access to legitimate information relating to various actions of the state government. While Uttar Pradesh Congress president Rita Bahuguna Joshi led a delegation to Governor T.V.

May 21st, 2009 LUCKNOW - A lawyer Thursday moved an application before a court in Uttar Pradesh's Barabanki district seeking action against state Chief Minister Mayawati for her alleged derogatory utterances against P.L. Punia, a former bureaucrat and now a Congress MP from the Barabanki parliamentary seat.

May 13th, 2009 NEW DELHI - Senior Congress leader Digvijay Singh has indicated the possibility of joining hands with BSP supremo Mayawati as part of UPA's post poll alliance. On a question as to whether the Congress sees Mayawati as its potential post-poll ally, a smiling Digvijay said, "Politics is the art of the possible." Offering another hint of Congress' soft corner for the BSP, Singh nullified Mulayam Singh's Yadav's remark against Mayawati Government in Uttar Pradesh.

May 6th, 2009 LUCKNOW - Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati Wednesday said Varun Gandhi had 'no moral right to use Gandhi as his surname' because of his 'violent behaviour'. 'A person with violent behaviour can never be a Gandhi,' Mayawati said referring to Mahatama Gandhi 'who was the greatest exponent of the doctrine of ahimsa (non-violence)'.

May 4th, 2009 GHAZIABAD - The Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) chief and Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati here Monday hit out at Congress general secretary Rahul Gandhi, saying that by merely sleeping in the house of Dalits or having food with them, their poverty would not be removed. Hitting out at the Congress, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and their allies, Mayawati at a rally in here said the Congress ruled the country for 40 of the 61 years since independence and yet did nothing for the country.

April 25th, 2009 NEW DELHI - The Election Commission of India on Saturday issued a notice to senior Congress leader Digvijay Singh for violating the Model Code of Conduct. The commission's notice said that Singh would need to explain his adverse comments against Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati.

March 30th, 2009 JAMMU - The Bahujan Samaj Party's (BSP) blue flags fluttered here in Jammu and Kashmir Monday as Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati campaigned for her party ahead of the Lok Sabha elections. Addressing an election rally, Mayawati criticised the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) as well as the Congress saying these parties were 'fooling the people'.