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Shahid K Abbas in New Delhi
Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati has asked the BJP leadership to rein in the Vishwa Hindu Parishad and the Bajrang Dal during the end of the 100-day purna ahuti yagna in Ayodhya on June 2.
Sources close to the BSP president Kanshi Ram told rediff.com that Mayawati has cautioned the BJP top brass that she would not hesitate to use the Prevention of Terrorism Act against those trying to create trouble in Ayodhya.
The sources said, "Behanji (Mayawati) has taken the reports of some elements trying to disturb the communal environment of the state seriously. These elements are distributing CDs of Godhra carnage."
Mayawati, last Saturday, while addressing her first press conference in New Delhi after becoming chief minister, expressed grave apprehensions at the 'attempts being made' to communalise the environment in Uttar Pradesh.
Sources said Mayawati categorically told the BJP leadership that if groups like Students Islamic Movement of India could be proscribed under POTA for whipping up communal tension, Hindu fundamentalist groups could also brought under the purview of the anti-terrorism act.
Mayawati's ultimatum to its supporting partner is also seen as a tactic to gain the confidence of the minority community, as also to make inroads into the vote bank of the Samajwadi Party.
BSP sources also said that minority leaders have been urging Mayawati to reopen the Babri Masjid demolition case against Union Home Minister Lal Kishenchand Advani, Union Human Resources Development Minister Murli Manohar Joshi and Union Minister of State for Youth Affairs and Sports Uma Bharati.
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