Meerut, November 1: Former CM and Samajwadi Party leader Mulayam Singh Yadav on Thursday expressed his doubt over UP CM Mayawati’s intention behind introducing the proposed Uttar Pradesh Control of Organised Crime Act (UPCOCA) and challenged her to use the Act against 22 “tainted” ministers in her own government. He was addressing workers at the party’s state convention here.

“While earlier, tainted people won elections from jail, in her reign a person with a criminal record became a minister from prison,” the SP leader alleged. Mulayam claimed the proposed law was aimed at intimidating SP workers. Already, more than 10,000 cases have been lodged against the workers under various Acts to demoralise them, SP leaders alleged.

Lambasting Mayawati for behaving in a tyrannical fashion, Mulayam said tyrants don’t have a long life. She should remember she would also have to go to jail for her acts one day, said Mulayam.

He also lamented the dismissal of newly recruited policemen by the CM. She should desist from involving IPS officers in police politics, Mulayam added.

Mulayam also reiterated his opposition to the introduction of VAT in the state. He attacked Mayawati’s decision to ban student union polls. This will deprive ordinary people of the opportunity to enter politics, said Mulayam. Only people with money and muscle power will enter politics, he added.

Reiterating that he was the rightful inheritor of the late Chaudhry Charan Singh’s political legacy, Mulayam also sought to woo farmers by announcing that he would be inviting ex-Haryana CM Om Prakash Chautala to the state convention.

Mulayam also expressed his fears over the stock market scenario. Foreigners have invested money in the market and if they withdrew, an economic crisis would ensue, he said.

Yadav urged party workers to be prepared for agitations on various fronts and also gear up for Lok Sabha polls.

Party Secretary Shiv Pal Yadav also asked party workers to get ready for Lok Sabha polls, while warning them against indulging in group politics. Referring to the party’s debacle in Assembly polls, Yadav confessed that poor organisational working and group politics within the party harmed the party’s chances. Local leaders were more busy visiting Lucknow instead of strengthening the party at the local level. Party leaders failed to get voters ID Cards and have voter lists made, said Shiv Pal Yadav.

He also said that last time the Election Commission was acting at the behest of the Centre, which too contributed to the party’s poor showing.