People were given false hopes of Achhe Din: Mayawati

Thiruvananthapuram: It was 3pm on Thursday, 90 minutes past the scheduled arrival of Kumari Mayawati. Over 6,000 workers of Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), who had reached the city from different parts of the state, were wilting under the scotching sun at Poojappura ground. The large ‘pandal’ and fans arranged inside could only provide partial relief to them. BSP state general secretary Gafoor Puthuppady was at mike, comforting the waiting crowd, which comprised men women in near equal numbers. “We are waiting for the future Prime Minister. She is on the way from airport. Let’s give her a feisty welcome,” Gafoor said.
At 3.15pm, Mayawati was escorted to the stage by SPG commandos. She reached the venue in an SUV arranged by the security agency, straight from the airport. Leaders on the stage and cadres on the ground welcomed her with thunderous sloganeering: “Welcome from Blue Army, Welcome from Elephant Army. Jai Bheem, Jai Bheem”. Mayawati reciprocated with a smile and waved her hand.

Then she proceeded to sit in the throne-like chair placed on the centre of the stage. There was a special podium for Mayawati to speak, apart from the one arranged for other leaders. Akash Anand, nephew of Mayawati and the youth leader of BSP, accompanied her along with Satish Chandra Mishra, MP.

Mayawati began her speech in chaste Hindi. Looking back at the 72 years post-independence, she could easily spot Congress and BJP as the forces which had destroyed the interests of the dalits, backward classes and Muslims in the country. “People were given false hopes of ‘Achhe Din’ and were lured with big promises by BJP. But, they had not even been able to execute one fourth of what they promised. To distract them from all these shortcomings, Modi is engaging in new gimmicks by coining different campaigns to mislead people. Modi was on an inauguration spree even till the last minute of the declaration of elections,” Mayawati didn’t mince words while attacking BJP.

Referring to the condition of dalits and religious minorities in Kerala, Mayawati spoke about the plight of dalit Christians. “Those who belong to SC/ST and have converted themselves into Christians are not getting reservation benefit. Neither the Congress nor the BJP gave them reservation,” she said.

Interestingly, there was no mention about CPM or LDF in the 40-minute-long speech of Mayawati. BSP has fielded 16 candidates in the state and aims to break the traditional vote bank of CPM to have a decent pie of vote share. The silence on CPM by BSP supremo can also be read along with the renewed plan of CPM to support a third front for forming the government post-election.