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BSP kickstarts campaign with govt report card
Takes familiar route of SP and Rahul bashing, shows off Mayawati reign. Rajesh Kumar Singh reports. Sound bytes | Poll trivia
The ruling BSP Wednesday launched its campaign for the first phase of Uttar Pradesh polls on February 8, showcasing the report card of its governance.
But Congress MP Rahul Gandhi, who was not named during the pitch, was firmly in BSP crosshairs along with the SP.
Leading the blue brigade campaign, BSP general secretary SC Mishra said at a rally, “The elephant (BSP’s symbol) has not gobbled up the money. Each penny was invested in development work and welfare schemes.”
The riposte to Gandhi’s elephant-gobbling-your-money thrust was not lost on the gathering at Maholi — around 109 km north of Lucknow — in Sitapur district.
Mishra, who played a key role in BSP’s social engineering formula which gave it a hands down win in 2007, aired the party’s ambition to come to power at the Centre. “Now the elephant is moving at a fast pace towards Delhi,” he said, ready with his government’s performance audit.
"Ensuring 7.5% development rate, Uttar Pradesh has emerged as the best governed state in the country under chief minister Mayawati and even Prime Minister (Manmohan Singh) has acknowledged it."
Training guns on SP, he said, “Five years back, chief minister Mayawati had assured to end the goonda and mafia raj established by the Samajwadi Party government. Recount the days when your mothers and sisters were not able to step out of the house, traders had to pay rangdari tax and contracts were captured at gunpoint. Compare it with BSP rule.”
He added, “The goondas have been sent behind bars, irrespective of their caste or political affiliation. The CM sent even BSP MPs, MLAs and ministers to jail.”
Mishra said the BSP had promised to establish an egalitarian society and in 2007, the number of Dalit MLAs in the party had increased from 19 to 62 and Brahmin MLAs from 4 to 44.
