BSP supremo Mayawati on Sunday said that Maoism was on the rise in the country due to the wrong policies of the successive Congress and BJP-led governments. Addressing an election rally at the Indira Stadium in support of the party candidates contesting the November 4 assembly polls, she said this was because those in power had continuously ignored the needs of weaker sections of society.

Mayawati said no adequate welfare scheme for weaker sections was in place and that successive governments had merely focused on remaining glued to power. She alleged that the UPA government was trying to reduce reservation for Scheduled Caste people by increasing the categories and castes in the Other Backward Classes (OBC) segment and extending the benefits of reservation to more people.

Supporting reservation on the basis of economic criteria, Mayawati said she had implemented this in Uttar Pradesh when she was chief minister. She said the Centre must create a distinct policy to this effect. She appealed to the masses to vote for the BSP so as to bring in transparency in governance.