Questioning the Samajwadi Party government’s claim of fulfilling all its poll promises three years into its term, the Bahujan Samaj Party supremo Mayawati on Sunday dared the ruling party to go in for mid-term elections.
Talking to journalists here, Ms. Mayawati said, “If the Akhilesh Yadav government believes this claim, then the Samajwadi Party should not delay getting the Assembly dissolved and seeking a fresh mandate.”
“But, the party, which made only tall promises would not do so,” she said.
The BSP president said the Dalits, the OBCs, religious minorities and the poor among the upper castes were in a state of despair.
Ms. Mayawati condemned the State government’s move to revert Dalit employees of the Irrigation Department, not allowing reservation in promotion.
“People’s confidence in the government’s ability to control crime and maintain law and order has been eroded. The Chief Minister’s recent poser if he should wear the police uniform to make law and order better underlines the situation and the government’s helplessness,” she said.
The BSP president took pot-shots at the Chief Minister, who earlier in the day inaugurated the National Cycling Championship. “He has no work to do, if not cycling what else would he do. As it is, he is only busy unveiling the schemes initiated by the BSP regime,” she said.
Ms. Mayawati dismissed the Bharatiya Janata Party’s efforts to erode the Dalit votebank of the BSP by projecting Baba Saheb Bhimrao Ambedkar. “In the Vidhan Sabha elections [in 2017] all the parties, including the BJP, will resort to a drama of pleasing the Dalits by projecting Dr. Ambedkar.” Terming the three-year SP rule as “very bad,” she said the ruling party’s “goondas, mafia and criminals” were having a free run. All types of crimes had increased, as also incidents of communal tension. “Uttar Pradesh has become crime pradesh,” she said.
Accusing the Modi government at the Centre of promoting the cause of capitalists and rich businessmen, the BSP chief reiterated her party’s opposition to the Land Acquisition Bill.
