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Stay away from BJP-Congress ‘conspiracies’, Maya urges Gen Z
BSP president accuses the Bharatiya Janata Party and the Congress of trying to “hijack” youth protests for their own political interests
LUCKNOW Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) chief Mayawati appealed to students and Gen Z to stay away from the “conspiracies” of both the ruling and opposition camps, as she accused the BJP and the Congress of trying to “hijack” youth protests for their own political interests.
The appeal came a day after BSP national coordinator and her nephew Akash Anand made an emphatic outreach bid to Gen Z and the youth during a party rally in Hathras district.
Addressing a press conference on Tuesday, the former UP chief minister said students and young people across the country were deeply concerned about their problems and the BSP remained “serious and sensitive” towards addressing them.
She said the BJP and the Congress party and its allies disrupted Parliament functioning – they use various pretexts to divert and distract public attention from burning issues concerning the nation and the public interest.
“It appears to be either a case of internal collusion aimed at shifting public focus away from the shortcomings of their respective central and state governments, or a conspiracy to seize power; the people of the country can clearly see what is happening,” she claimed.
“The country’s students and youth are distressed and concerned about their problems. The BSP has always stood by them in accordance with its principles and continues to do so, as their movement is linked to the serious issues facing the younger generation and their families,” she added.
Mayawati alleged that the recent student and youth protest at Delhi’s Jantar Mantar was first launched by what she described as the “Cockroach Janata Party” (CGP), but was subsequently “hijacked” by the Congress and its allies. She alleged that Parliament had still not been able to function under its cover. She said a similar situation was emerging in Ranchi, where students and youths were protesting over their issues but was later “hijacked” by the BJP and its allies.
“Under the garb of these protests — whether at Delhi’s Jantar Mantar or in Ranchi, Jharkhand — we see politics taking center stage; there is a lack of genuine seriousness regarding the resolution of these grievances, with narrow electoral self-interest dominating the agenda,” she said.
Mayawati said it is a well-known fact that during the four terms of the BSP government in Uttar Pradesh, “we never let students and youth down; we paid special attention to all their concerns —particularly regarding their livelihoods and employment.”
She said the BSP government created employment opportunities in both the public and private sectors, addressing students’ issues in a timely manner. “We lifted the long-standing freeze on government recruitment — a policy of previous administrations that had severely hampered departmental operations,” she added.
The BSP chief also claimed that new government posts were created in the police and other departments, providing employment to lakhs of people
Mayawati also said that during terms as UP chief minister, her government had not discriminated against any section and had worked on the principle of “Sarvajan Hitay, Sarvajan Sukhay}” (welfare and happiness of all).
“Furthermore, the public sector has been weakened at every level in favour of the private sector — a trend rapidly continuing across the country. Consequently, the nation’s major capitalists and tycoons are growing ever more powerful, while the poor and unemployed from all sections of society are falling further behind. Reservation for Dalits, Adivasis, and Other Backward Classes—particularly in government jobs—has become negligible, and even that is now being rendered ineffective by RSS elements,” she alleged.
“Although our party is not opposed to the private sector, the marginalised sections ought to receive reservation there, just as they do in government jobs, said Mayawati.
She said UP, Uttarakhand and Punjab would go to assembly polls together after some time and appealed to all sections, including students, youths, Dalits, tribals, backward classes, Muslims and other minorities, farmers, labourers, traders and employees, to strengthen the BSP.
