New Delhi: Mayawati confronted a united opposition today that targeted her for the violence that has erupted in towns along the Yamuna Expressway that's being constructed from Greater Noida to Agra.
At least four people died over the weekend and another four were injured in firing between the farmers and local police and administration officials. The protests by farmers began first in Greater Noida and then spread to towns like Mathura and Agra. Farmers say the government acquired land from them for the highway project at below-market rates. They say the same land is now being resold at huge mark-ups for commercial projects like malls. (
Watch: Farmers' land protest gets political)
Despite the fact that Greater Noida is now a simmering and volatile zone, political leaders from different parties tried to head there to commiserate with farmers. The BJP's Rajnath Singh was arrested briefly en route. So was Shivpal Yadav, whose brother, Mulayam Singh Yadav, is the chief of the Samajwadi Party. The opposition says that Mayawati's land acquisition policy is tilted against farmers.
"If I were Mayawati, I would have resigned by now," said Mr Singh as he was arrested. He appealed to the farmers to fight for their cause in a "non-violent and democratic way."
The 165-kilometre long Yamuna Expressway was originally meant to be completed by October.
"This land was hurriedly acquired at gunpoint from farmers. The Chief Minister is responsible for what is happening," said Mulayam Singh. The Congress also rose to the occasion. "The greed of Mayawati has overtaken her sensible decisions. The whole government is up for grabs for those who have the money to spend and who have the capacity to fill the personal coffers of the Chief Minister," alleged the party's General Secretary, Digvijay Singh.
The Mayawati government has repudiated criticism by the BJP and others. "This is a conspiracy by the Opposition parties. They are misleading the villagers, instigating them to act against the government," said Shashank Shekhar Singh, the Cabinet Secretary of Uttar Pradesh.
The company that's been contracted to build the highway - Jaypee -says that it acquired land for the project two years ago and that all compensation for farmers was settled peacefully. Jaypee says that the farmers are protesting over the land acquired by a government body - the Yamuna Expressway Industrial Development Authority. (With PTI inputs)