Will come to save Mayawati if SP attacks again: Keshav Prasad Maurya

RAMPUR: In a veiled warning to BSP supremo Mayawati that she would be ditched by Samajwadi Party after elections, UP deputy chief minister Keshav Prasad Maurya said on Monday, BJP would again come to her rescue if SP goons attack her in a re-run of the 1995 life-threatening state guesthouse attack. “Behenji hum phir aayenge aapko bachane agar sapaiyon ne kiya durvyavahawar (We will come again to save you if SP men attack you again),” Maurya said.

He made these remarks while addressing a rally for BJP candidate Jaya Prada in Rampur.

Maurya also kicked up a row while lauding India’s air strikes on Balakot. Attacking Jaya’s rival and SP candidate Azam Khan, he said, “Now tell me, Azam Khan ko matam manana chahiye ya Masood Azhar ko (Will Azam mourn or Azhar Masood),” he asked. He also said the NDA government brought a sense of security to people.

“Ever since Modi was elected, we are hitting back at the enemy with bigger ammunition. Goli ka jawab gola se, dene ka aadesh dene wale bharatiya sena ko, Modi ji hi hai,” Maurya told the rally.

Maurya later mounted an attack on Mayawati for asking Muslims to vote for SP-RLD during her address at a joint rally at Deoband — their first in the run-up to polls. BJP and BSP have had strained ties for more than a decade even though the saffron party had backed the Mayawati government in 2002.

“Dalits and OBCs are upset with Mayawati and Akhilesh. They are rallying behind their OBC Prime Minister Narendra Modi and supporting BJP for pro-poor schemes of Ujjwala, Gram Sadak, Saubhagay,” he said. He also said his government has been working on providing a crime-free environment. “SP party workers would capture booths and not allow voters to cast vote. SP neta Azam Khan is a mastermind. Now, this won’t happen,” he said.