IS IT RITA SPEACH MORE TERRIBLE AGAINST MAYAWATIS?

Rita Bahuguna Joshi is taken into custody by police in Moradabad, about 340 km from Lucknow, on July 15, 2009.



A tongue-in-the-cheek remark made by Uttar Pradesh Congress president Rita Bahuguna Joshi against state Chief Minister Mayawati landed her in prison. What earned Rita the wrath of Mayawati was her reported comment: "The girl who was raped in Meerut was given Rs 25,000, the same amount was given to a deaf and dumb newly-wed girl who was raped. In the third instance, the father of the raped and murdered girl was given Rs 75,000. I say that such money should be thrown at Mayawati's face and the victims should tell her let her be raped and we will give her one crore rupees".

Driven to the wall, Rita sought to clarify that she had "simply sought to draw people's attention to the fact that Mayawati's dole of Rs 25,000 to every Dalit rape victim was quite ironical as the state police chief was spending lakhs on the helicopter ride that he undertakes to hand over that paltry amount." Uttar Pradesh police arrested her while she was on her way to Delhi and BSP men set her house afire. There was strong condemnation of the remarks of Rita across the political spectrum, with her party chief Sonia herself strongly disapproving what Rita had said. The arrest of UP Congress chief Rita Bahuguna Joshi has added a new spark to the cumbustible political situaiton in UP. It has set Mayawati's BSP against Sonia's Congress. The Congress took the fight into the UP camp by deploying Rahul Gandhi to address the party workers in Lucknow on Friday. Rahul went ballistic against Mayawati for arresting and detaining Rita Joshi. But Mayawati stood her ground, saying Rita Bahuguna Joshi's derogatory remarks against her cannot be forgiven and that she will be punished.