After being denied permission for his interactive session with students of Chandra Shekhar Azad University of Agriculture and Technology, Congress general secretary Rahul Gandhi called the Mayawati Government “vindictive”, and alleged that it treated Dalits as a votebank.Addressing a party convention at Motijheel ground, Rahul said, “Though the BSP Government is often referred to as a Government of Dalits, what has the ruling party done to uplift the living standards of Dalits?” Rahul said till date no sincere effort had been made by the BSP to promote education amongst Dalits. “Without education, the development of any section of society is not possible.”The Congress MP said during his visit to different schools of UP, he preferred meeting the backbenchers. He claimed that majority of the backbenchers in each class were Dalit students. The Congress leader said despite the BSP being in power in UP, the important issue of education for Dalit children had been completely ignored. Talking about his visit to the residence of a Dalit in the Ambedkar Nagar Maleen Basti at Jajmau earlier in the day, Rahul said, “His poor financial condition showed that the BSP leaders are least bothered about the problems being faced by the Dalits.” Rahul said the biggest threat to the country came from the politics of votebank. The recent violence in Mumbai, Patna and Andhra Pradesh was the result of votebank-based politics. “People from different sections of the society are being exploited as votebanks, and if the trend continues it will become a major challenge for the country,” he said. Taking a swipe at the BJP, he accused the party of maintaining double standards. “In Mumbai, BJP members are backing Raj Thackeray and the MNS, but during public meetings at Uttarakhand, they criticise the thrashing of north Indians in Mumbai,” he said.Commenting on the denial of permission for his interaction with university students, Rahul said he only wanted to meet students of CSA, and despite the hurdles he was successful in meeting them. “I am willing to go to anywhere for the cause of the people,” he added.
