Mayawati slams BJP on JNU issue

Lucknow, Feb 15 : Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) supremo Mayawati on Monday slammed BJP leaders on the Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) issue and accused them of double standards on nationalism.

Taking a jibe at union Home Minister Rajnath Singh for saying that protests at the JNU were supported by Lashkar-e-Taiba chief Hafiz Sayeed, she said the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and its leaders had "double standards" on nationalism.

Before accusing anyone of anti-national actions, the BJP must clarify its own take on nationalism, specially after forming a coalition government with the Peoples Democratic Party in Jammu and Kashmir, the former chief minister of Uttar Pradesh said.

"PDP leaders have openly maintained that Afzal Guru, hanged for his role in terror attack on parliament, was a martyr. The BJP must hence clarify its conduct," she said. 

"Deprived of any real political issues, she is resorting to anything and everything. It is Mayawati who needs to explain, like other opposition leaders, why are they siding with people who openly challenged the unity and integrity of the nation?" state BJP spokesman Vijay Bahadur Pathak told IANS.