Sahara Shahar caught between Maya, Mulayam war

DOWN WITH IT: Walls around the high profile Sahara Shahar in Lucknow being demolished.

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New Delhi: The UP government is on a demolition drive and the target is Sahara Group which is known for its proximity to the Samajwadi Party.

Walls built on an area of 30 metres around the high profile Sahara Shahar in Lucknow were demolished on Wednesday as the state government considered it to be illegal encroachment.

But hours later Mayawati suffered a setback as the Sahara Group got a reprieve from the Allahabad High Court and the demolition drive was suspended.

Coming down heavily on Lucknow Development Authority, the court asked the UP government to return the land and explain why it demolished the walls without giving any notice to Sahara.

Lawyer of the Sahara Group Raghvendra Singh said, “The court has said that the demolition drive was wrong.”

So why is Sahara Group being targetted? Sahara Shree Subroto Roy's association with the Samajwadi party is well known. Even though relations between the two have deteriorated in the recent times, it’s close enough for Mayawati to see red.

CNN-IBN has learnt that the UP government is preparing a full list of all structures built by Sahara Group across UP and any illegality will meet with a similar fate.

Rajya Sabha MP Shahid Siddiqui said, “Mayawati is demoralising the state and this is just not good.”

Obviously Mulayam Singh Yadav's courtesy call on Mayawati has not borne positive results. Now as the country gets set for another round of General Elections, battlelines between Mulayam and Mayawati will just get sharper.