hHundreds of Congress workers, office-bearers and party supporters Tuesday led a massive protest rally in Meerut against the Samajwadi Party government in Uttar Pradesh.

The party accused the SP government, led by Akhilesh Yadav, of not implementing the food security law in the state, break down of law and order, failure in containing communal riots in Muzaffarnagar and not attending to the basic problems faced by the cane growers.

Leading the protest, Congress general secretary in-charge of UP, Madhusudan Mistry, called the Akhilesh government “nikamma” (good for nothing) and said the law and order machinery in the state had collapsed.

“The common man is living in constant fear and the men in power themselves are breaking laws and twisting rules,” he added. Mistry also accused the SP government of stonewalling implementation of the Food Security Bill in the state.

Referring to the pending dues and arrears on cane growers, Mistry said the state government had completely become immune to the problems of the people in the state.

Uttar Pradesh Congress Committee chief Nirmal Khatri referred to the communal clashes in the state, particularly in Muzaffarnagar and said that the SP government had completely failed to protect the people. He also alleged that even the rehabilitation of the riot survivors was not in place.

Congressmen later tried to proceed towards the divisional commissioner’s office in Meerut but were forcibly stopped by police which later put them under preventive arrest.

The Congress-led United Progressive Alliance-II government at the centre depends on the 21 SP MPs for maintaining majority in the Lok Sabha but the two parties have had some serious and acrimonious exchanges of words off late, clearly signalling the parting of ways before the forthcoming Lok Sabha polls.

  ‘good for nothing’, Akhilesh government, Congress, stages protest