BJP will soon lose power just like Congress: Mayawati

After independence, Congress was in power but due to wrong policies they are out even from most states, BJP too doing same mistakes, she said

Launching an attack on the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) chief and former Uttar Pradesh chief minister Mayawati on Monday said just like the Congress, the saffron party too would be ousted from power because of its “wrong policies”.

Accusing the BJP of attacking Muslims under the garb of Hindutva, Mayawati said her party would work towards eradicating such practices if voted to power. (Sakib Ali/HT Photo)

Accusing the BJP of attacking Muslims under the garb of Hindutva, Mayawati said her party would work towards eradicating such practices if voted to power.

“...after independence, Congress was in power, but today due to wrong policies they are out not only at the Centre but also in most states. Their allies are also not in power. But now BJP is also doing the same mistakes. Government agencies are being misused. The development of Dalit, backward, minority and tribal classes has stopped under Modi’s government. Only the big capitalists and the rich are benefiting,” Mayawati said, addressing a rally at Sikandrabad in Bulandshahr in support of BSP’s Gautam Budh Nagar Lok Sabha candidate Rajendra Singh Solanki.

Responding to the comparison, BJP district president Gajendra Mavi said,“We are a democratic party with nationalistic approach and this is not right for them to say. And how can BJP’s ideologies be aligned with the Congress? Our ideologies are totally different. And as far as BSP is concerned, it is a private limited company whose CEO is Mayawati.”

A former Congress leader for the larger part of his political career, Solanki crossed over to the BJP in 2007, only to return to the grand old party the same year after losing to a BSP candidate. He switched over to the BSP earlier this year.

Clearing the air, as to why a Gujjar candidate was not picked for Gautam Budh Nagar, even through Gujjars are dominant and more politically powerful in Greater Noida, Mayawati said the strategy has backfired in the last few years for the BJP.

“Most people, and especially the Gujjar community of this district, might think why BSP picked a candidate from the Kshatriya community (Rajendra Solanki) for this seat. It is because in the last few Lok Sabha elections, we fielded Gujjar candidates, but the BJP took advantage of that and won,” the BSP chief said.

“We have fielded a Kshatriya candidate as their representation in the district is also significant and no other candidate from this particular community is in the fray,” she said.

Taking advantage of the resentment simmering among the Rajput community towards the BJP, the BSP decided to field Solanki.

The Rajputs (comprising Thakurs and Kshatriyas, and others) are among the BJP’s core voter base, but they are currently protesting against the saffron party over the alleged slights meted out to the community by the BJP, and have held a series of panchayats across western Uttar Pradesh vowing not to vote for the BJP.

“We have a Gujjar fighting on the Baghpat seat and with this the BSP has ensured equal representation of all communities as far as ticket distribution is concerned,” Mayawati said.

The BSP has fielded advocate Praveen Bansal, a Gujjar, in the Baghpat Lok Sabha constituency. In the 2019 elections, Gautam Budh Nagar witnessed a 57.97% voter turnout and BJP candidate Dr Mahesh Sharma won the seat after defeating nearest rival Satveer Nagar of the BSP by a margin of 336,922 votes.

The BSP chief highlighted how most of the developmental work in the region was done under her regime. “Before we came to power, the Greater Noida and Noida region was not that developed. It was we who carved out a district and named it Gautam Budh Nagar. We built the expressways, highways and the (Jewar) airport, which they (BJP) claim as theirs.”

The Gautam Budh Nagar constituency in Uttar Pradesh will go to polls in the second phase on April 26 along with seven other Lok Sabha constituencies in the state.