Mayawati hits back at Rahul Gandhi; asks him to worry about his own party
Lucknow: BSP chief Mayawati on Sunday rejected Rahul Gandhi’s claim that she had spurned an alliance offer from his Congress during the Uttar Pradesh Assembly polls, asking him to get his own house in order instead of worrying about other parties.
Gandhi had on Saturday said that the Congress reached out to the BSP leader, offering her the chief minister’s post for contesting the assembly polls together, but she did not respond.
Hitting back at the Gandhi scion, Mayawati said all the allegations levelled by him are wrong and reflect his party’s “casteist mindset” and feeling of malice.
“Yesterday, the former president of the Congress had made some remarks regarding our party and especially about its chief, which clearly reflect the casteist mindset and a feeling of malice towards the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP). It also shows similar feelings towards deprived sections of the society, especially the dalits,” she told reporters here.
“Before levelling any allegation on the BSP, Rahul Gandhi must introspect,” she said.
“The Congress leader is unable to manage his scattered house, but is raising fingers on the style of working of the BSP. This clearly shows the tremendous anger and hatred towards the BSP. Instead of worrying about other parties, Rahul Gandhi should think about his own party. This is my advice,” she added.
The BSP supremo also accused the Congress of failing to take any concrete step during its long tenure to improve the social and economical condition of dalits and other deprived sections of the society. She also alleged that the community was not given full benefits of various other facilities, including reservation.
Mayawati claimed it was because of this attitude of the Congress that Babasaheb Bhimrao Ambedkar, who was the then law minister in the Congress government, had tendered his resignation.
She also questioned the Congress’ claims of preventing the BJP from coming to power.
“The Congress had fought the previous (2017) UP assembly elections with the Samajwadi Party. Despite this, it could not prevent the BJP from coming to power. The Congress should answer this,” she added.
The BSP leader also mentioned about the previous Congress government terming BSP founder Kanshi Ram a “CIA agent”.
“… before this, his (Rahul) father late Rajiv Gandhi (and former prime minister) had termed Kanshi Ram an agent of CIA to defame and weaken the BSP. And, following his footsteps, Rahul Gandhi is levelling wrong allegations on the BSP chief that since she fears the CBI and Income Tax, she has a very soft approach towards the BJP.
“However, this is not the truth. He must know that we won the cases in court and not by partnering with any government at the Centre,” she said.
Sharpening her attack on the Congress, Mayawati said, “Before making any comments on opposition parties, especially BSP, the Congress should think 100 times that what has been its record till now, as far as taking on the BJP is concerned. The record of the Congress in fighting the BJP has been very weak.
“The Congress cannot be seen anywhere fighting the BJP and the (Rashtriya Swayamsevak) Sangh. The BJP is adamant in ending democracy, and making a party system from panchayat to parliament like in China,” she claimed.
She said the working style of her party is different, and that she will not at all change it.
Taking a jibe at Rahul Gandhi hugging Prime Minister Narendra Modi in parliament, she said, “The former Congress president, all of a sudden, got up and hugged Modi. Our party does not indulge in such drama. The entire country and the world laughed over this drama.”
The Congress won only two out of 403 seats and got a vote share of less than 2.5 per cent in the recently-held Uttar Pradesh asembly polls, where the BJP retained power. As many as 97 per cent of Congress candidates lost their security deposit.
The BSP won just one seat and a vote share of around 13 per cent. Nearly 72 per cent of its candidates also lost their deposits in the election, which turned out to be a bipolar contest between the BJP and the Samajwadi Party (SP).
