Mayawati gets into election mode LUCKNOW:Getting into the election mode Bahujan Samaj Party vice president Mayawati gave a clarion call to her party cadre to ensure that the next government in Uttar Pradesh should be of BSP and simultaneously slammed chief minister Rajnath Singh for his double speak and sudden concern for the MBCs and the extreme Dalits. She stressed reservation for these classes should be on the basis of population. Kickstarting the first phase of her statewide agitation to dislodge the BJP government Mayawati addressed a dharna at the district Collectorate on Friday and said the 11 issues raised by her would constitute the BSPs election manifesto. She launched a vitriolic attack on the chief minister and dubbed him as a `Ghoshnada mantri' and a `natak mantri'who in sheer desperation was resorting to all kind of tactics to woo the electorate.The quota within quota policy also fell in this genre she felt.She questioned the sudden need of the BJP to raise the issue when elections were due and added it was indicative that the measure was nothing but a political stunt. The BSP VP said she was not opposed to reservation for this section but wanted it to be on the basis of population.She said Dalits comprised 26 pc of the population of which the extreme Dalits were 6 pc. Likewise of the 52 Backward Classes the MBCs constituted 35 pc.The reservation quota allotted to them should be on the basis of their numerical strength. She said during her tenure as chief minister she had advocated a better deal for the MBCs and the Dalits but the BJP had opposed it on grounds that the upper section would alienate itself from the party.Mayawati said since the BJP had its government at the Centre also it should amend the Constitution and provide for reservation for this section in the Rajya Sabha, the legislative Council and the judiciary. Union communication minister Ram Vilas Paswan was also slammed by the BSP leader who said he was acting as an agent of the BJP and was equally interested in subverting the interest and well being of the Dalits and the BCs as was the BJP. The dilly dallying of the state government over the issuance of a fresh notification in the Ayodhya accused case had Mayawati saying that the BJP had taken the law in its own hand with the intention of spreading communalism. Giving ample indications of broad basing her party Mayawati said she was not averse to welcoming people from the upper castes provided they adhered to the BSPs ideals and policies.And to buttress the point she added that party tickets would be given to them in addition to their being made ministers when the party came to power in the impending elections. The BJPs misrule on all fronts, the recent killings of Dalits in Aligarh, Fatehpur, the plight of farmers the dismal law and order situation were highlighted by her.
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