Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) supremo Mayawati, while addressing a public meeting in support of party’s candidate Bijendra Singh in Bijnor on Tuesday, said that “jumlebaazi, drama and guarantees will not work in this election.”
“The government had promised ‘achchhe din’ for the poor and hardworking people, but not even a quarter of the on-paper guarantees has been fulfilled in reality. The BJP is making the rich and capitalists richer, and protecting them,” she said.
Flaying the alleged weaponisation of investigating agencies against the opposition parties, she said: “Like the Congress, the BJP has also politicised the investigating agencies. The BSP government was in power four times in Uttar Pradesh where farmers were taken care of and given fair prices for their crops. The price of sugarcane was increased. Due to casteist and capitalist thinking in the BJP government, the development of the poor, Dalits, backwards and Muslims could not take place. The quota in jobs for Dalits and tribals could not be filled. Reservation in promotions has also been rendered ineffective.”
Mayawati said that a bill was brought in the Rajya Sabha for reservation in promotions, but it was not allowed to be passed by the SP MPs and the draft bill was torn in the House itself. “The voters have to ensure that the deposits of the Samajwadi Party candidates are forfeited,” she added.
Mayawati alleged that the exploitation of Dalits in the private sector has still not stopped.
“Due to the BJP-RSS government, the atrocities in the name of religion have increased to a great extent. Like the previous governments at the Centre, poverty and inflation are increasing in the current BJP government as well. The country’s borders are not safe. This is also a matter of concern. The opposition parties are trying to form the government at the Centre by adopting all means. We should not be misled by any party. People should not be misled by hollow election manifestos,” she added.
“The BSP believes more in doing than in saying. In Uttar Pradesh, we have done historic work four times without releasing a manifesto. The free ration being given to poor families is not going to do any good. Our party will provide work to every individual. The exploitation of people, especially of the Muslim community, in the guise of religion will be stopped. When the government was formed in UP under my leadership, we provided the people with a means of livelihood. A large number of Jat children from western UP were recruited in the police during our regime. Those whose words and actions don’t match will have to be stopped. People will have to vote only for the Bahujan Samaj Party,” Mayawati said.
“If our party forms the government at the Centre, its policy will be ‘Sarvajan Hitaya Sarvajan Sukhaya’. Our party will fulfil the unfulfilled dreams of the great saints of our country, Dr Bhimrao Ambedkar, and Chaudhary Charan Singh ji,” she added.
Without taking the name of Azad Samaj Party’s president Chandrasekhar Azad, Mayawati said that in order to weaken the BSP, the opposition parties have made some “saleable people” form a party to divide the Dalit votes. “Their job is not to win elections but to divide the Dalit votes, especially in Nagina, and make other parties win,” she claimed.
“In Bijnor, we have fielded a candidate from the Jat community. In Muzaffarnagar, the erstwhile SP government caused riots between Jats and Muslims, but there was no difference of opinion between Jats and Muslims when our party was in power. We have fielded a candidate from the Jat community to turn the hatred created between Jats and Muslim communities into brotherhood,” she added.
