Uttar Pradesh: Mayawati addresses core Dalit base at Auraiya, says no Unnao re-run

LUCKNOW/KANPUR: Promising that Dalits won’t be harassed if her party came to power in Uttar Pradesh, BSP chief Mayawati recounted the shocking murder of a Dalit woman whose body was exhumed from premises of an ashram owned by a deceased SP leader’s son in Unnao. “These incidents won’t happen,” she said at a rally in Auraiya in Kanpur division on Saturday.
During BJP and SP regimes, people were under a continuous spell of social tension and Muslims were particularly harassed during the BJP regime.“Muslims and other religious minorities have been victims of bias under BJP rule. And upper castes, especially Brahmins were also ignored and harassed by the government,” said Mayawati.
Accusing SP of caste bias, the former CM said, the party worked solely for a community and a certain area. It cancelled reservation for SC/ST in government contracts, tore a Bill in Parliament on quota in promotions, annulled a scheme for sending SC/ST students abroad for studies and changed names of districts and institutions named after Dalit gurus.
“I was hoping when BJP replaced the SP government, it would reverse some decisions, but their own casteist mindset was exposed. Crime has spiralled, Dalits women and minorities are unsafe, but these are hushed up,” she said.