In the ongoing Ramcharitmanas controversy in Uttar Pradesh, Bahujan Samaj Party supremo Mayawati slammed the Samajwadi Party and reminded it of the infamous guest house incident.
In a series of tweets on Friday, Mayawati said, “The SP must remember what it did on June 2, 1995, in Lucknow guest house to the leader of Dalit community. SP leaders and workers assaulted the daughter of the Dalit community, who was set to become the chief minister.”
She slammed SP chief Akhilesh Yadav on the latter’s Shudra issue terming it as an insult to the backwards and Dalit communities.
Mayawati said the Constitution of India is the holy book for the poor, the weaker and the deprived sections of society in the country and not the Ramcharitmanas.
She said that Dr Ambedkar has called these sections as SC, ST and OBC not Shudras. The SP chief has been insulting them by calling them Shudras besides violating the Constitution. Only the BSP safeguards the dignity of the SCs, STs, OBCs and Muslims.
SP national general secretary Swami Prasad Maurya said Mayawati should forget the guest house episode now.
“She allied with Akhilesh Yadav in the 2019 General Election. Now, there is no point in cribbing about the old incident,” he said, adding, Mayawati is losing her base in UP. That's why she is making such statements.
Notably, a heated debate has been going on in UP for the last 12 days after SP leader Maurya made derogatory remarks on Ramcharitmanas.
Maurya dubbed the Ramcharitmanas an orthodox literature, which contains demeaning verses against Dalits and backwards.
Irked over his remark, Hindu outfits demanded action against Maurya and an FIR was lodged against him. However, undeterred by the controversy, SP chief Akhilesh Yadav appointed Maurya as the party national general secretary. Going a step further, Yadav said the BJP treats him as a Shudra. For BJP, the Dalits and backwards of the country were Shudras.
Soon after Akhilesh's remark, hoardings were erected in Lucknow displaying the slogan 'Garva Se Kaho Hum Shudra Hain' (Proud To Be Shudra). Akhilesh dared UP CM Yogi Adityanath to explain in state assembly whether BJP considers OBC, Dalit a Shudra or not.
