Lucknow, July 16 (IANS):  A senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Thursday said Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati's move to slap the SC/ST act on Congress leader Rita Bahuguna Joshi was "vindictive" and exposed the "autocratic" functioning of the state government.

"The government's move to book the Congress leader under the SC/ST act is disproportionate and vindictive," senior BJP leader and Lucknow MP Lalji Tandon told reporters here.

"We agree what the Congress leader said was against political decency, but the action taken by Mayawati against her cannot be justified under any circumstances... It exposes the autocratic functioning of the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) government," he added.

The BJP has demanded an inquiry into the police and district authorities' inaction during the violence and vandalism that rocked Lucknow late Wednesday.

"From TV channels and other media sources, we have learnt that policemen remained mute spectators when the BSP supporters resorted to arson and vandalism at the Congress leader's residence," said Tandon, terming it "shocking".

Joshi was Thursday sent to Moradabad jail on 14 days' judicial custody on a charge of insulting Chief Minister Mayawati. She was booked under the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, the official name of the SC/ST act.

Members of the state's ruling BSP ransacked Joshi's house in the state capital and set it ablaze late Wednesday night.