Mayawati counters Rahul Gandhi, says get your house in order first

The Congress won two and BSP one seat in the recently held elections. The BJP returned to power by winning 274 out of 403 seats in the assembly.

The Congress should look at its own record of fighting against the Bharatiya Janata Party, Bahujan Samaj Party chief Mayawati said on Sunday, reacting strongly to Congress leader Rahul Gandhi’s remarks that an offer for a poll alliance in the recently held Uttar Pradesh assembly elections failed to elicit a response from her.

BSP chief Mayawati addresses a press conference in Lucknow on Sunday. (PTI)

“Earlier, his father Rajiv Gandhi tried to defame and weaken the BSP, saying that BSP founder Kanshi Ram was a CIA agent,” Mayawati said at a media briefing. “Now, his son is following in his footsteps and making false allegations that I am afraid of central agencies — CBI, ED and income tax department — and that I am soft against the BJP,” she said.

“There is no truth in this. He should know that I have got a clean chit, not from any party whose government was in power at the Centre, but from the Supreme Court,” she added.

“We had approached Mayawati and offered her the position of chief minister (of Uttar Pradesh), but she did not respond to the proposals,” Gandhi had said at a book launch event on Saturday. “She gave a clear passage to the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party. Why? (Because of ) CBI, the ED and Pegasus.”

The Congress won two and BSP one seat in the recently held elections. The BJP returned to power by winning 274 out of 403 seats in the assembly.

The Congress, which remained in power for a long time, did nothing for the social and economic upliftment of weaker sections, whereas the BSP is working for empowerment of Dalits, Mayawati said on Sunday. The Congress is adopting all tricks to weaken the BSP, she said.

“The Congress should introspect on its record in its fight against the BJP. After the Congress lost power, there is no sign of its fight against BJP and RSS (Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh), whereas the BJP has adopted all tricks to make the country not only free of Congress, but also of opposition, from panchayat to Parliament,” she said. “Like the Chinese political system, the BJP is working to finish democracy and the Constitution.”

“Earlier, I have spoken in detail about BSP’s poor performance in UP assembly polls,” the party chief said. “Rahul should desist from making any comment against the BSP.”

“The BSP has its own style of working and organising movements over public issues. We do not indulge in political gimmicks like Rahul hugging Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the Lok Sabha,” she said.

“The Congress had contested the 2017 assembly elections in alliance with Samajwadi Party. The alliance failed to stop BJP from grabbing power. Rahul must make it clear to the people why the Congress-SP alliance failed to defeat the BJP then,” she said.

“Before countering Rahul Gandhi ji, the BSP chief Mayawati ji should introspect that for last five years it did not play the role of opposition in the state. Congress wanted the opposition to come together, but Mayawati ji wanted it to be weak”, said Anshu Awasthi, a coordinator and spokesperson of UP Congress Committee.