Approached Mayawati for alliance, offered CM post, but she didn’t respond: Rahul

Mayawati was accused of not campaigning enough for the Assembly elections with Oppn alleging that she has an understanding with the BJP

Accusing Mayawati of “not putting up a fight” in the recent Uttar Pradesh Assembly election, top Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Saturday said his party sought an alliance with the BSP with the Dalit leader as Chief Ministerial face but she did not respond to the offer, apparently due to pressure from the central agencies.

Rahul made the remarks at the launch of the book 'The Dalit Truth: The Battles for Realising Ambedkar's Vision' edited by his close aide K Raju and organised by Samruddha Bharat Foundation here.

Maintaining that the Constitution has no meaning if the institutions are not free, he said BR Ambedkar gave us the weapon of the Constitution but that weapon has no meaning in the present scenario.

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“It is like you are in a vehicle where four travellers want to go to Agra and the driver says, I am driving to Jaipur. This is what is happening in this country now and how it is happening. By controlling the media, by controlling three or four industrialists, by controlling politicians through Pegasus. If I had taken even Re 1, I would not be able to make this speech. I would have sat silently in a corner,” he said.

“There are some politicians. You might have seen that Mayawati did not fight the polls. We sent a message to her. Let’s have an alliance. Be the Chief Ministerial face. She did not respond. People like Kanshi Ram, whom we respect, gave their blood and sweat to empower Dalits of Uttar Pradesh. Congress suffered losses because of that but that is different. Today, Mayawati says I will not fight for them. Open passage has been given. Why? Because of CBI, ED and Pegasus,” he said.

Mayawati was accused of not campaigning enough in the run up to the Assembly elections with other Opposition parties alleging that she has entered into an understanding with the BJP, a charge denied by her. BSP won just one seat while its vote share decreased to 12.88 per cent in 2022 Assembly elections from around 22 per cent earlier.

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He said this fight can be fought only by the people and till the time they do not let their voices be heard, those in power will control the institutions and will not allow the Constitution to work. “This is the truth of India. When the Constitution does not work, then the direct impact will be on the lives of the poor and weaker sections,” he said adding this is the time to fight as the country is facing problems on fronts like employment and economy.

“Ambedkar and Gandhi have shown the path. There is a path to walk. And it is not easy work. We will have to walk through that path,” he said.

He said there are people who are only interested in power and they breathe power all the time. “I was born at the centre of power. But honestly, I am not interested in power. Instead, I try to understand the country,” he said.

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