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Journalism of Courage
Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) chief Mayawati Thursday alleged that both the BJP and Congress have a tacit understanding in the ongoing Lok Sabha polls and are working against the SP-BSP-RLD alliance.
Later in the day, speaking at a rally organised in support of Gonda alliance candidate Pandit Singh and Kaiserganj candidate Chandradev Ram Yadav, Mayawati strongly attacked Kaiserganj BJP candidate Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh. Without taking his name, she called Brij Bhushan “a mafia and a criminal”.
“You must be thinking why I made Chandradev Ram Yadav a candidate from Kaiserganj when he is from Azamgarh. This is because as soon as the BJP candidate from here (Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh) who is a mafia and a criminal, got to know about the people I was considering to field from here, he threatened them and did not let them come forward. Then I decided that whatever happens, it is necessary to teach lesson to this mafia candidate… BJP talks about removing terrorism, but they should first look in their own house,” Mayawati said at the rally.
“I got to know that when his (Chandradev) ticket was finalised, the BJP candidate attacked our office. Lekin mai unko ye bata dena chahti hun ke ye bhi aapko aage chal ke bahut mehenga pad sakta hai. Isliye hamare logo ke saath ye jo aapki gundagardi hai, ye karna band karo, ye theek nahi hai. Aur aap logon ko maloom hai ke apradhiyo ko gundo ko aur aise tatwon ko mai kis tareeke se nipatti hun ye mafia kisam ke log gunde log achhi tarah se jaante hain. Inko Pratapgarh zile ke Raja Bhaiya se sabak seekh lena chahiye. Aise bahut se log hain (I want to tell them that you might have to pay a big price for this. Stop your hooliganism. This is not right. And you people know how I take care of criminals and hooligans. He should take lesson from Pratapgarh’s Raja Bhaiya. There are many like that),” said Mayawati.
Independent MLA Raja Bhaiya was the state cabinet minister in Samajwadi Party government and recently formed his own political party – Jansatta Dal.
When Mayawati was the chief minister, in 2002, Raja Bhaiya, who was then MLA of Kunda, was sent to jail under the Prevention of Terrorism Act. He was arrested along with his father Uday Pratap Singh and cousin Akshay Pratap Singh on the charges of kidnapping and issuing threats. During Mayawati’s regime, Raja Bhaiya was also declared a terrorist after the police recovered weapons, including AK-47, from his house in Kunda. The charges were, however, dropped after then SP chief Mulayam Singh Yadav took over as the chief minister.
Earlier, in a statement released by her party office in Lucknow, Mayawati also alleged that the Congress had send its candidates in Uttar Pradesh in order to benefit the BJP.
“Like the BJP, the Congress has started saying absurd things about the SP-BSP alliance. This makes it clear that both these parties have made a pact and are now fighting the election here together,” the BSP chief said.
Mayawati also alleged that in line with the politics of caste and hatred, the Congress had fielded candidates to defeat the alliance in the state and benefit the BJP.
“The Congress and the BJP do not want people who suffered due to casteism, communalism, capitalism to rule in any way. These parties are two sides of the same coin,” she said.
A day after Prime Minister Narendra Modi alleged that the SP and BSP has only misused the names of Bhim Rao Ambedkar and Ram Manohar Lohia, the BSP chief Thursday said, “He has made some comments on the BSP, taking the name of Ambedkar. I want to tell him that Baba Saheb’s name might be for vote politics and self-interest for them, but he is the soul of the BSP. The BSP does not practise the politics of ‘Ramnaam japna, janta ko thagna’ (taking the name of Ram and duping people) like the BJP.”
“I want to advise the BJP that it should not try to become fake ‘Ambedkarwadi’ like the Congress,” she added in a statement issued here.
Referring to the incident where Mulayam blessed Modi in the Parliament, the BSP chief said, “It happened because of his old age. He (Mulayam) wanted to say one thing, instead said something else. He never intended to bless Modi and this is known to all.”“Rahul Gandhi is not old, but what was he doing hugging Modi in the Parliament?” she said.
Mayawati further said the Prime Minister was mum on Pakistan for the last five years and now when the elections are under way, he was showing all his courage to divert the attention of people from the core issues and hide the “failures” of his government.
