BSP president Mayawati on Sunday said Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Lucknow to attend Dussehra celebrations is “politically motivated” and the event should have been toned down taking into account the loss suffered by the families of soldiers killed in the deadly Uri terror attack.
“The pyre of jawans who lost their lives in the Uri attack has not yet died down, but the Prime Minister is coming to Lucknow to celebrate Dussehra for his political motives,” Mayawati said at a rally here on the occasion of party founder Kanshi Ram’s 10th death anniversary..
“It is likely that for the same purpose, he (Modi) might come to UP for Diwali as well. Taking the loss of the Uri martyrs’ families into account, BJP should have celebrated Dussehra and Diwali with sobreity and simplicity,” she said.
“The BJP has been forced to bring Modi to Lucknow to Dussehra mela so that he can put forth his views at a religious congregation...It has been forced to indulge in politics of religion,” she said.
Mocking the saffron party, she said BJP might be forced to bring in film actors to garner crowds in future. Crowds alone do not translate into votes, she added.
Prime Minister Modi is scheduled to visit Lucknow and attend Dussehra festivities at the historic Aishbagh Ramlila ground on October 11.
Apprehensive of possible efforts to “cash in” on cross-border terrorism in the upcoming assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh, Goa and Punjab, Mayawati said hysteria of war between India and Pakistan may be churned up to “divert attention from failures” of the central government.
Alleging that minorities were facing bias under Modi government, Ms. Mayawati on Sunday cautioned Muslims that voting for Samajwadi Party or Congress will only help BJP and sought their support “to stop” the saffron party.
Muslims should not waste their vote as there is infighting in Samajwadi Party and Congress lacks a voter base in Uttar Pradesh, Ms. Mayawati said while addressing a rally here on the occasion of party founder Kanshi Ram’s 10th death anniversary.
“Ever since the BJP government has come at the Centre, Muslims and other minorities are being subjected to bias. The minority status of Aligarh Muslim University and Jamia Millia Islamia is being snatched away.
“Communal forces are becoming stronger and Muslims are being targeted in the name of love jihad, ‘gau raksha’ (cow protection) and religious conversion,” the BSP supremo alleged launching a scathing attack on the Modi government.
Ms. Mayawati also made it clear that her party will go alone in the three states going to polls early next year — Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand and Punjab, and cautioned the people against any canard that BSP might enter into an understanding for forming as government with the BJP in case it fell short of majority.
She said there was no truth in these rumours which were being spread to divide Muslim votes and asserted that such a situation will not arise.
Coming down heavily on the ruling Samajwadi Party, Ms. Mayawati said because of “rampant crime and anarchy” incidents such as Muzaffarnagar, Dadri, Mathura and Bulandshahr have occurred and promised to restore rule of law in Uttar Pradesh.
“There is a tussle for supremacy going on in the SP between Mulayam Singh Yadav’s son Akhilesh Yadav and brother Shivpal Singh Yadav and its result will be that the Yadav vote will split as each will try to ensure the defeat of candidates owing allegiance to the other,” Ms. Mayawati said.
“In such circumstances Muslims should not waste their ballot by voting for them or else it will help the BJP...Similarly Congress does not have a vote base and voting for it will also benefit BJP,” Ms. Mayawati said.
“To stop the BJP, the vote should not go to either the Samajwadi Party or the Congress as with every Assembly seat having 22 to 23 per cent dalit votes, BSP can sail through with the help of Muslim votes or else the same scenario can emerge that was seen in 2014,” she stressed.
Ms. Mayawati, who had faced criticism for spending hundreds of crores of rupees in setting up memorials of herself, Kanshi Ram and B R Ambedkar, said her party will not construct any more memorials.
