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Mayawati wins trust vote

By J.P. Shukla

LUCKNOW MAY 17 . The Uttar Pradesh Assembly today adopted the motion of confidence in the coalition Government headed by the Chief Minister, Mayawati, after more than a seven-hour debate that was marked by heated exchanges and mudslinging between members of the Samajwadi Party and the Bahujan Samaj Party. At the end of the debate, 217 members voted in favour of the motion and 180 against.

While the Opposition leaders dwelt on the contradictions in the BSP-BJP alliance, the treasury benches insisted that they had joined hands only to end President's rule and give the State a popular Government.

Opposition leaders took pains to expose the anti-minority character of the BJP in their bid to persuade the Muslim MLAs in the BSP to revolt against the party leadership which had made "common cause with communal forces''. This led to wild protests from the BSP members belonging to the minority community who refused to accept that their loyalty to the community was suspect.

Moving the motion, the Chief Minister said the BSP had come to power with the help of the BJP only to avoid fresh elections that could not have been in the interest of the State. It was a fact that in the past, differences had emerged between the two parties when they had come together to rule the State, but the BJP never behaved with her in such a bad manner in which the Samajwadi Party had done on June 2,1995.

She criticised the SP leaders saying that she had made common cause with communal forces represented by the BJP. When the same BJP had joined hands with the SP, it was never considered communal, she said.

Ms. Mayawati said U.P. had remained free from communal riots during her rule in the past.

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