If SIMI can be banned, why not Bajrang Dal, asks Mulayam

Asked if the SP was still opposed to a ban on SIMI, Yadav said: “If the charges against SIMI are proved correct, it should be banned. During my regime, no terror incidents were linked to the SIMI. This fact was conveyed to the tribunal.”

Yadav also rubbised charges levelled by Chief Minister Mayawati that terrorism had flourished in the state during the SP regime.

Asked about Azamgarh district having emerged as a “nursery” of terrorism, Yadav said: “A detailed probe will prove this suggestion wrong. There may be a handful of persons who were involved in terror activities but it is wrong to generalise.”

The SP chief further said though the state was reeling under floods and power crisis, the farmers were being dispossessed of their land for projects like the Ganga Expressway. “The state machinery was indulging in extortion to fill the coffers of the BSP for the next Lok Sabha election,” he said.

Describing Mayawati as the most insensitive chief minister, Yadav said the inadequate flood relief operations in the state were yet another example of Bahujan Samaj Party’s apathy towards the people of the state.