Cong, BJP anti-Dalit, anti-OBC: Mayawati

Tribune News Service
Daryabad (Barabanki), May 1

BSP chief Mayawati today accused the Congress and BJP of being anti-Dalit and anti-OBC.

She said despite persistent demand of its Dalit supporters, the Congress did not bestow the Bharat Ratna on Bhim Rao Ambedkar and the BJP withdrew support from the then VP Singh government, which years later awarded the Bharat Ratna to Ambedkar and implemented the Mandal Commission report, giving quota to OBCs.

Addressing a joint rally of the SP-BSP-RLD mahagatbandhan at Daryabad, on the border of Barabanki (reserved) constituency, she also made an appeal to vote for the alliance candidates of Bahraich (reserved) seat as well as Ayodhya — all having candidates from the Samajwadi Party.

Mayawati alleged that a disheartened Ambedkar had resigned from the Jawaharlal Nehru government for what she described as his belief that Dalits and OBCs were not getting their legal rights as assured by the Constitution. She said when he contested the first parliamentary election in 1952 from his own organisation from Bombay, the Congress instead of helping him win unopposed pitched a candidate against him and misused the government machinery to ensure his defeat. She claimed that the number of invalid votes polled by Ambedkar was equal to the number of valid votes. The Congress is reported to be in the fight in all the three seats.

Holding the BJP governments at the Centre and the state responsible for not filling the reserved positions of Dalits and OBCs, Mayawati said they had outsourced most vacancies to the private sector where reservation was not applicable. “Both the governments had similarly misused government agencies like CBI, ED, and income tax departments against their political opponents,” she said.

SP chief Akhilesh Yadav too addressed the rally. He said the mahagathbandhan was to bring in a mahaparivartan. Without naming Modi, he said he had reports that the rally of the big leader of the big party in the district earlier in the day saw thin crowd and no “josh”. He said the country wanted a new PM and urged the crowd to take over the chowkis of the chowkidar.