‘Alliance of crorepatis; Maya & Sukhbir don’t know what it means to be poor’: Kanshi Ram’s sister

Clarifying that she won’t be contesting polls either on BSP or SAD ticket if offered, Kaur said, “I won’t be contesting polls even from any other party because I cant go against BSP. This party is not the personal property of Mayawati. My brother made BSP for the poor and currently it stands hijacked by Mayawati. My veerji’s hard work and sacrifices have gone into making what BSP was,” said Kaur.

“Whenever my mother used to tell veerji to get married, he would tell her to give her one son for serving the society,” said Kaur, adding that politicians cutting across party lines ‘visit the temple built in his brother’s memory’ and pay tributes to him for what he did for the Dalits. “I am trying to keep his legacy alive without getting into politics,” she said.

During 2019 Lok Sabha polls, Dalit group Bhim Army led by Chandrashekhar Azad had urged Mayawati to give BSP ticket to Kaur or that the latter should contest independently from any seat with their support. Kaur had also attended Bhim Army’s rally on Kanshi Ram’s birth anniversary at Jantar Mantar in Delhi that year where Azad had announced to contest against PM Narendra Modi. Later, however, Kaur clarified that she had attended the rally only because Bhim Army respected his late brother.

In 2016, Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) chief and Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal had visited Pirthipur on Kanshi Ram’s birth anniversary and demanded ‘Bharat Ratna’, the highest civilian honor in the country for him. He had visited Kaur’s residence and garlanded the statue. However, Kaur had then termed Kejriwal as her ‘special guest’.

“My brother used to sleep on floor whenever required and would always stand with the poor. People like Sukhbir Singh Badal and Mayawati don’t let poor come near them. Mayawati uses tag of ‘Dalit’s daughter’ as per her convenience and has become a crorepati whereas poor from Dalit community still struggle for two meals a day. What has she done for them?,” asked Kaur.

“Has she (Mayawati) ever visited the house of any poor or gone to villages to listen to problems of the poor? This alliance is of and for the rich and has been done just to save sinking ships of both parties and for their mutual benefit. No Dalit or poor is going to get any benefit from this alliance because the motive here is power, not welfare,” said Kaur, who accuses Mayawati of separating Kanshi Ram from his family and not allowing them to meet him even in his last days. “She just wanted power and that hunger made her throw out my brother and other loyal BSP workers like him,” she said. “Our anger is not against BSP but the incapable and insensitive leader running it now.”