Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) National President Mayawati on Sunday made a fervent attempt to allay fears that she was “anti-upper caste” and said her party always endeavoured to usher in schemes aimed at welfare of all communities.
Speaking at a well-attended convention of BSP cadre from South Indian states at the Palace Grounds in Bangalore, she said her party would replicate the social engineering model, which she implemented in Uttar Pradash, in other states and the Centre, if voted to power.
The four-time chief minister of Uttar Pradesh said her party swore by ‘Sarvajana Hita, Sarvajana Sukhi’ (Welfare of all) and blamed the Congress and the BJP for formulating economic policies to benefit the rich and the capitalists.
It was apparent at the convention that Mayawati was keen to strengthen her party base in South India ahead of the 2014 Lok Sabha elections. “Mayawati for Prime Minister” slogans rent the air from BSP cadre every now and then through the convention.
“The plight of scores of dalits, backward classes and religious minorities has not improved because of the anti-poor policies of the Congress and the BJP. They have no concern for the plights of dalits and they should be held responsible for the rampant poverty and unemployment among these communities. Some of them have taken to naxalism or chosen the wrong path,” Mayawati said.
She accused these parties of fighting elections using money provided by the rich. “Once they come to power they become puppets at the hands of capitalists. Such parties should not be allowed to return to power,” Mayawati said.
She also blamed the Congress and the BJP for hatching a conspiracy to take away reservation benefits provided to dalits. “Reservation in education and employment which is a constitutional right of the dalits is being taken away by enacting new laws. The dalits should unite and ensure their rights are protected,” she said. She also accused the Congress of deliberately stalling the reservation in promotion bill in the Lok Sabha.
Mayawati said her party also stood for providing reservation for economically weaker sections among the upper castes. “I have written several letters to the Centre in this regard. But there has been no response,” she said.
She said her party supported the demand for a separate Telangana state and also was in favour of providing special status to backward regions in various states.
Former Raichur MP Abdul Sammad Siddique joined the BSP on the occasion. BSP representatives from Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and Puducherry participated in the convention.
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