BSP chief Mayawati said here on Tuesday that the BJP would scrap reservation if it came to power, while the Bahujan Samaj Party would extend it to the poor among the the upper castes.
At an election meeting, Ms. Mayawati asked her supporters to ensure that the BJP was crushed in the Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections, because the party was pursuing a course towards ending the caste-based reservation system provided by the Constitution.
She criticised the ruling SP in the State for its poor record in law and order, and said the party’s vote bank had been divided between the two factions belonging to Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav and his uncle Shivpal Yadav. Ms. Mayawati said that if elected to power, her government would not erect statues or monuments. It would also not distribute free laptops and smartphones as the SP was doing. Instead, direct cash incentives would be provided to the poor and weaker sections.
She charged that the BJP imposed demonetisation to serve its political interests but the move had claimed several innocent lives. “Businessmen are downing shutters. People have lost their jobs. The BJP helped big businessmen to invest their black money, while leaving the poor and middle class in the lurch,” she said.
