(REOPENS DES 58)

Later, at Meerut, Maurya described Uttar Pradesh ChiefMinister Akhilesh Yadav as the "most unsuccessful chiefminister" and took a jibe at his government saying it has now"remained only in advertisements". After being declared the Uttar Pradesh BJP chief, this wasMaurya’s first visit to his predecessor Laxmikant Bajpai’sconstituency. Talking to reporters, he alleged that the law and ordersituation in the state was "completely destroyed" and theruling dispensation was "protecting" criminals and the mafia. "The situation is so bad that criminals are not scared ofthe police anymore. In fact, it is the other way round," hesaid and claimed that more than 150 police personnel have beenkilled in the state during the current political regimewhereas, the number of criminals neutralised was far less. "Akhilesh is an anti-development chief minister. He isagainst the rural population, the poor, the farmers and theyouth. He is the most unsuccessful chief minister in thecountry," he alleged. Maurya claimed that the Uttar Pradesh government hadinitially not implemented the Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojna."When they did implement it, they also brought sugarcanewithin its ambit," he said. Accusing the SP, BSP and Congress of "being Ph.D incorruption", the state BJP chief alleged that there were scamsworth Rs 12 lakh crore during the UPA regime in the countryand there was "support from SP and BSP" in this. Taking a jibe at Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi’s’khat panchayat’, he said, "Rahul and his mother (Congresspresident Sonia Gandhi) had won from Uttar Pradesh in the 2014Lok Sabha election with SP’s support. To pay them (SP) back,he is now holding khat panchayats. But, the people have taughthim a lesson." Describing BR Ambedkar as "not only a Dalit icon but anational icon", Maurya accused Uttar Pradesh minister AzamKhan of calling him a "land mafia" and said the BJP will "nottolerate" any insult to him. He demanded Khan’s expulsion from the state cabinet and acase be lodged against him. Training his guns at BSP chief Mayawati, Maurya claimedthat her supporters had "deserted" her as she had "becomerich" by selling "the poverty of the poor and the blood of theDalits" (gareebon ki gareebi aur Daliton ka khun). Referring to Mayawati’s Saharanpur rally earlier in theday, he said, "Instead of mounting an attack on her ‘nephew’Akhilesh, she tried to protect him. I think, it is a ploy tosave those 22 former BSP ministers who are facing cases ofcorruption." PTI CORR RC RGRC