Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) chief Mayawati on Thursday extended an olive branch to the Samajwadi Party by withdrawing a case filed against party patriarch Mulayam Singh Yadav in the infamous guesthouse episode of June 2, 1995.
BSP national general secretary SC Mishra confirmed that his party chief had withdrawn the 24-year-old case against the then Uttar Pradesh chief minister Mulayam Singh Yadav.
Another BSP leader, who did not wish to be named, said after the SP-BSP stitched a pre-poll alliance for the Lok Sabha election on January 12, Samajwadi Party national president Akhilesh Yadav had urged Mayawati to withdraw the case lodged against his father Mulayam Singh Yadav in the guest house episode.
During the Lok Sabha election campaign, Mayawati shared the dias with Mulayam Singh Yadav in Mainpuri and called upon the party workers to forget the guesthouse episode.
Post the defeat in the general election, the BSP chief ended the SP-BSP alliance but fulfilled the promise made to Akhilesh: of dropping the case against Mulayam Singh Yadav.
Recalling the guest house incident, a senior BSP leader said after the demolition of the Babri Masjid in 1992 a saffron wave swept the state. To counter the BJP, the then SP chief Mulayam Singh Yadav and the then BSP chief Kanshi Ram formed an alliance to contest the 1993 assembly polls. The BSP-SP alliance won 176 seats and formed a government with Congress’ support.
Soon after, differences between the alliance partners started coming to the fore. BJP leaders met Mayawati and offered her the CM’s post if the BSP joined hands with their party. On June 2, 1995, Mayawati called a meeting of her party MLAs at the Meerabai guest house in Lucknow. Samajwadi Party leaders and workers too reached the guest house and allegedly attacked it.
Mayawati and some BSP MLAs locked themselves in a room of the guest house. Later, she was rescued by BJP leaders. In a case registered at the local police station, Mayawati alleged that Mulayam Singh Yadav and other SP leaders wanted to kill her.
Later, the governor sacked Mulayam Singh Yadav and invited Mayawati to form the government.
Samajwadi Party state president Naresh Uttam Patel, who was in Fatehpur, said over the phone that he was not aware of any such development about withdrawal of the case and thus was not in a position to comment on it.
Samajwadi Party’s chief spokesperson Rajendra Chaudhary said: “I am not aware of it yet. Will find out about it tomorrow and say anything after that.”
Pragatisheel Samajwadi Party-Lohia (PSP-L) chief Shivpal Yadav (the younger brother of Mulayam Singh Yadav), said in Prayagraj: “I have no idea.”
However, a senior Samajwadi Party leader said during the Lok Sabha polls, Akhilesh Yadav and Mayawati had discussed taking such a course of action in the 24-year-old case.
Source: HindustanTimes