Lok Janshakti Party ( LJP ) mellows down on SC/ST Act, says it trusts BJP government

New Delhi, July 30: After giving an ultimatum to the Centre for promulgating an ordinance to strengthen the SC/ST Act and removal of the Chairman of National Green Tribunal (NGT), the Lok Janshakti Party (LJP) on Monday said it has faith in the BJP-led government that its demands would be met. Addressing a press conference here, Chirag Paswan, party MP and son of Union Minister Ram Vilas Paswan, criticised opposition parties mainly Congress and Mayawati’s Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) for being ambiguous on “the burning issues” affecting the Scheduled Castes (SC) and Scheduled Tribes (ST).

The MP from Jamuai in Bihar said misconception was being spread by Congress and other opposition parties that the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government was against SC/ST communities. “Congress is indulging in a vicious propaganda to malign the image of NDA government as anti-Dalit. While its leader (Mallikarjun) Kharge raises questions over SC/ST issues in Parliament, another leader Ashwini Kumar backs NGT Chairman A.K. Goel, who earlier (as Supreme Court judge) weakened the SC/ST Act,” the LJP leader remarked. He also called upon all opposition parties to clear their stand on the issue.

Accusing Mayawati of maintaining silence on the issue, he said: “As Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh, she had in 2007 issued an order that no arrest can be made in an atrocity complaint until the matter is investigated by a senior police official. Also, no case could be registered until a medical check-up is done. There are similarities in what she did then and the latest order passed by (Justice) Goel,” he said. (IANS)