<p class="title">BSP chief Mayawati on Friday dubbed the 'Bharat Bandh' called by some upper caste-OBC groups against the SC/ST Act as an "electoral conspiracy" of the BJP to divide people on caste lines ahead of the Lok Sabha elections.</p>.<p class="bodytext">In a statement issued here, she said the Bharatiya Janata Party is supporting such agitations to divert people's attention from "burning" issues such as fuel price hike.</p>.<p class="bodytext">She claimed that the law to prevent atrocities against Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes was never misused when the Bahujan Samaj Party was in power in Uttar Pradesh.</p>.<p class="bodytext">The former Uttar Pradesh chief minister also claimed that people from upper castes were given equal opportunities in jobs and employment when her party was in power in the state.</p>.<p class="bodytext">"The BJP and the RSS are indulging in divisive politics as part of which agitations are being organised, especially in the BJP-ruled states, to oppose the amendments to the SC-ST Act . It is nothing but an electoral conspiracy sponsored by the RSS and the BJP," she said in the statement.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Some organisation had Thursday called the one-day bandh to protest against the amendment to the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Parliament had passed the amendment bill last month, overturning the Supreme Court order barring arrests without a preliminary inquiry to avoid false implication of innocent persons under the Act. </p>
<p class="title">BSP chief Mayawati on Friday dubbed the 'Bharat Bandh' called by some upper caste-OBC groups against the SC/ST Act as an "electoral conspiracy" of the BJP to divide people on caste lines ahead of the Lok Sabha elections.</p>.<p class="bodytext">In a statement issued here, she said the Bharatiya Janata Party is supporting such agitations to divert people's attention from "burning" issues such as fuel price hike.</p>.<p class="bodytext">She claimed that the law to prevent atrocities against Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes was never misused when the Bahujan Samaj Party was in power in Uttar Pradesh.</p>.<p class="bodytext">The former Uttar Pradesh chief minister also claimed that people from upper castes were given equal opportunities in jobs and employment when her party was in power in the state.</p>.<p class="bodytext">"The BJP and the RSS are indulging in divisive politics as part of which agitations are being organised, especially in the BJP-ruled states, to oppose the amendments to the SC-ST Act . It is nothing but an electoral conspiracy sponsored by the RSS and the BJP," she said in the statement.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Some organisation had Thursday called the one-day bandh to protest against the amendment to the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Parliament had passed the amendment bill last month, overturning the Supreme Court order barring arrests without a preliminary inquiry to avoid false implication of innocent persons under the Act. </p>