Bahujan Samaj Party chief Mayawati. (Express photo by Vishal Srivastav/File)
In her first election rally in Chhattisgarh, BSP president Mayawati on Saturday lashed out at the BJP and said that political parties should fight “communal forces” in the country. She said that it was no coincidence that conversations around the Ram Mandir in Ayodhya were growing in the country with the Lok Sabha elections approaching.
However, she said that even if the BJP and RSS planned to build small temples all over the country to garner votes, it would not work in their favour.
She claimed that defence deals under both the BJP and Congress governments have been questionable. The BSP chief asked party supporters to ignore claims made by the Congress against her after she chose not to ally with the party in Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan.
At a joint rally with ally Chhattisgarh Janata Congress’s chief Ajit Jogi in Bilaspur, the BSP chief took the attack to the BJP and said, “The mob lynchings that this government has seen in the name of gauraksha is a dangerous trend and these attacks are a blot on democracy. This is a result of being biased against Dalits, Adivasis, Muslims and Christians. The BJP government has been completely apathetic.”
Mayawati said that none of the BJP’s economic policies — such as GST or demonetisation — have worked, and that the saffron party reneged on promises made to the poor.
Mayawati said Jogi was a leader the state deserved.
While the Congress sought to negotiate for an alliance, Mayawati last month announced that the BSP would ally with CJC. The Congress had said that Mayawati was bowing down to pressure from investigating agencies and the Centre, and the alliance was solely aimed at undercutting the Congress.