Lucknow: Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) supremo Mayawati on Saturday accused the Congress of long-standing neglect towards the Dalits and tribals.
In a post on X, Mayawati dismissed Rahul Gandhi's admission of Congress's failure in fulfilling the political, economic, and reservation-related aspirations of these people as "not new." She called the leader's stance "self-serving politics" and his party adopting consistently "a sad and unfortunate attitude" towards the SC/ST communities.
The Dalit leader said that it was this very behaviour of the oldest part of the country that compelled these communities to form their own party.
"Consequently," Mayawati said, "the Congress party has continuously remained out of power in major states, including Uttar Pradesh. Now, after losing power, they are suddenly remembering these communities, which can only be described as crocodile tears given their perpetual deceitful intentions and policies." She extended her criticism to the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance, accusing it also of hypocrisy.
The BSP chief said the Congress kept in abeyance the full benefits of reservation, failed to honour Dr B R Ambedkar with the Bharat Ratna for nearly 40 years after Independence.
Mayawati said that all "casteist parties" collude to effectively render SC, ST, and OBC reservations "inactive and ineffective" under various pretexts.
They are all "cut from the same cloth," she said.
She claimed that her government in Uttar Pradesh guaranteed "safety, dignity, and welfare" of all sections of society, including the poor, the oppressed, and the Bahujan Samaj.
"The welfare of the nation's Bahujans is solely inherent in the BSP's iron guarantee," said the four-time UP chief minister.
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