Lucknow, Feb 3 (IANS) Samajwadi Party president Mulayam Singh Yadav Thursday accused Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati of deliberately targeting his partymen, many of whom were put behind bars on "false charges".

"Even Independent MLA Raghuraj Pratap Singh, who was better known as Raja Bhaiya, has been arrested on trumped up charges simply because of his proximity to my party," Yadav said, adding: "Others like Shailendra Singh, MP of our party, and Akshay Pratap Singh, MLA, were also booked on false charges for the same reason."

Yadav told a press conference here, "Nearly 100,000 SP workers are currently implicated by the Mayawati machinery in baseless criminal cases because her sole intent is to cripple our party, which is the only potent political force against her ham-handed governance."

The SP chief added, "Yet, undaunted by the odds, my partymen had stood up firmly against her arbitrary and dictatorial acts."

According to Yadav, "No other political party, including the Congress, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD) or the Communist parties, were on Mayawati's firing line; all her guns are trained only at the Samajwadi Party."

He alleged: "Mayawati has no respect for democratic values or democratic institutions and she is busy only counting notes or watching TV."