The brutal murder of the PWD executive engineer M.K.Gupta at Auraiya in Uttar Pradesh, purportedly on his refusing to donate for Mayawati’s birthday celebrations is shocking. Instead of openly siding with the MLA who is alleged to be involved in the crime, the BSP supremo should have come clean by ordering a probe into it. And her statement that, only BSP office-bearers and not MPs, MLAs and MLCs were given targets to collect money for her birthday bash is in bad taste. In a State which has the notoriety as one of the most backward parts in the country, Mayawati is sending a wrong signal by encouraging ostentatious celebrations on her birthday. It is another matter that, the BJP and the Samajwadi Party have no moral grounds to criticize the BSP, as they too enjoy the dubious distinction of having men with criminal records in their camps.
Syed Sultan Mohiddin,
Kadapa (A.P)