Maya woos Muslims in Okhla

BSP's show of strength was on full display again for the second consecutive day in the Capital when over 5,000 people gathered at Ali village, in the Okhla assembly constituency to listen to party chief Mayawati, reports Moushumi Das Gupta.

Bahujan Samaj Party’s (BSP) show of strength was on full display again for the second consecutive day in the Capital when over 5,000 people gathered at Ali village, a predominantly Muslim area, in the Okhla assembly constituency on Monday to listen to party chief Mayawati.

HT Image

If, on Sunday, Mayawati tried to woo the upper caste voters by promising reservation, on Monday she used the same trick to appease the Muslim community. “In 1995, when BSP came to power in UP for the first time, we included the economically poor among the Muslim community in the backward class and gave them reservation in education and jobs. If voted to power, we will extend the same reservation to the poor among the Muslim community across the country,” she said.

If BSP’s national general secretary, Satish Chandra Mishra, a Brahmin, appealed to the upper castes to vote for the party, Saeed Siddiqui, another senior party functionary, took to the stage to connect to the Muslim voters. “All other political parties — be it Congress or BJP — have only exploited us all these years. The social and economic condition of our community has only deteriorated since Independence. The average Muslim is always living in a state of fear. It is only the BSP that has given the community the right it deserved,” he said.

Mayawati made her ambition for Prime Ministership very evident when she said, “We have provided good governance in UP and if voted to power we will do the same in all the states in the country. I hold all the opposition parties responsible for the present economic turmoil that the country is going through. People are facing the brunt of high prices. It is for you to decide what sort of governance you want.”

The BSP chief also tried to woo Delhi voters by promising statehood and regularisation of unauthorised colonies. “If you vote us to power in the city, not only will we accord full statehood but will also improve basic amenities,” she said.

The BSP leader would address her third and last rally in the Capital on Wednesday in Sultanpur.