Extending full support to the on-going farmers’ agitation and their Bharat Bandh call given on Monday, Bahujan Samaj Party president Mayawati slammed the Yogi Adityanath government in Uttar Pradesh for delaying the announcement of hike in sugarcane prices.

She also alleged that the expansion of the ministry at the fag end of the government’s tenure would not serve any purpose to the ruling party in the coming assembly elections scheduled early next year.

In a series of tweets posted on Monday, the former chief minister of UP said, "The Bharatiya Janata Party government in Uttar Pradesh kept ignoring the farmers for the whole four-and-a-half years and did not increase the support price of sugarcane, which I pointed out in the Prabuddh Varg Sammelan on September 7. Now they have suddenly remembered the sugarcane farmers just before the election and raised cane SAP which exposes their selfishness."

Mayawati further posted, "The entire farming community is very sad and troubled by the anti-farmers policies of the Central and UP governments. But now increasing the support price of sugarcane for face saving just before the assembly elections is not the right solution to the basic problem of farming. In such a situation, the farmer is not going to fall into any allurement dished out by the BJP."

Reacting on the recent expansion of the UP ministry, the BSP chief posted, "Whoever has been made minister by the BJP has been inducted in ministry to mobilise votes on the basis of caste in UP, but it would have been better if they did not accept it because as long as they understand their respective ministry and want to do something, the Election Code of Conduct will come into play.".

Mayawati further tweeted, "While the present BJP government has not taken any concrete steps for the development and uplift of the classes which it has given representation to in the ministry rejig and has only stopped the schemes brought by her government earlier for the purpose. What is more, most of the works started by the BSP government in their interests have also been stopped. It is an advice to these classes to be alert of the BJP's double standards.”

On Sunday the Yogi Adityanath government hiked the state advisory price (SAP) of sugarcane by Rs 25 per quintal and the UP ministry was expanded by inducting seven more ministers from various castes and tribes.