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Maya raises ghosts of past, lack of jobs and law
Uttar Pradesh chief minister Mayawati told the state's electorate Wednesday if they did not vote for Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), they would risk their safety by giving power to communal and sham socialist forces. Rajesh Kumar Singh reports.
Uttar Pradesh chief minister Mayawati told the state's electorate Wednesday if they did not vote for Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), they would risk their safety by giving power to communal and sham socialist forces.
Launching the party's campaign in Sitapur, 90 km north of Lucknow, Mayawati trained her guns on the Congress, before targeting the Samajwadi Party (SP) and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
"If the Congress comes to power, common people will have to migrate to other states in search of jobs. Small traders will suffer because Congress has made it clear it will bring foreign direct investment in retail sectors," she said at a meeting in a college ground.
Mayawati claimed she had ended goonda raj and said if the SP came to power criminals would rule the roost again. "The safety of girls and women would be threatened." She said voters should remember the "lawlessness during the SP rule and the rangdari tax (protection money) traders had to pay".
The BSP chief said if the BJP came to power, communal and feudal forces would make life tough for the poor and the minorities.
She hit back at the opposition for terming her government corrupt. "Within 31 months of UPA rule, 62 scams have been reported."
Mayawati accused the Centre of using the Central Bureau of Investigation to target her government, saying the pace of the probe into national rural health mission (NRHM) scam had picked up before the assembly polls. "The central government, by not acting on reports of its review teams, is responsible for the NRHM scam."
Taking on the election commission for ordering covering up of her statues and of Dalit icons, she told the crowd to avenge the humiliation through the ballot.
Countering the anti-incumbency factor, Mayawati highlighted the denial of tickets to tainted leaders.
On quota for Muslims, she said, "Reservation for Muslims in government jobs within the OBC quota will dilute the reservation benefits to the backward classes. The government should give them separate reservation."
