Bahujan Samaj Party supremo Mayawati on Tuesday slammed the Congress, saying the party could never be true and trustworthy to Dr Bhimrao Ambedkar’s thinking and policies.

Mayawati’s remarks came after Congress leader and former MP Udit Raj made some controversial comments and alleged death threats against her. The party workers also staged a protest against Udit Raj here in the state capital.

In a post on X, she said Congress has never respected Ambedkar, and no matter how many programmes the party claims to run in his honour, they are meaningless as these are only for political gains.

She wrote in Hindi on X: “The Congress party, especially, which has disdained at every level the humanitarian struggle of Dr Bhimrao Ambedkar for self-respect and self-esteem of millions of exploited and oppressed Dalits/Bahujans, even during his lifetime and after his death, can never be true and trustworthy to his thinking and policies. Therefore, no matter how many programmes the Congress organises in the name of ‘Jai Bapu, Jai Bhim, Jai Mandal, Jai Samvidhan’ etc, for purely political and electoral gains, the followers of Baba Saheb are not going to be misled by them. They are aware and alert and are struggling to stand on their own feet.”

The BSP chief also cautioned the Dalits against those within the community who misuse the cause for personal benefits. She said, “Along with this, the Bahujan Samaj needs to be cautious of some party-changing opportunists and selfish Dalits who keep making baseless statements, etc, to please their masters, and should not take them seriously because they are ignorant and unfamiliar with the ‘social change and economic liberation’ movement.”

Congress leader Udit Raj, during an event in Lucknow on Monday, had allegedly made a controversial statement. Udit Raj, who was a BJP MP from North West Delhi from 2014 to 2019, told the media, “How will you kill your own relatives? So Shri Krishna said that there are no close relatives, fight for justice and kill your own people.”

He further said, “Today our Shri Krishna has said at that very point that first of all kill your enemy.”

He added, “The one who is the enemy of social justice, I have mentioned him in my press release. Mayawati has strangled the social movement, so now the time has come to strangle her.”

Reacting to Udit Raj’s statement, Mayawati’s nephew and BSP leader Akash Anand, in a post on X on Monday, demanded legal action against Udit Raj. “I want to clearly tell @uppolice that these criminals should be arrested within 24 hours and strict action should be taken under the law. Otherwise, the Bahujan youth of the country are not going to sit quietly. I know very well how to teach them a lesson.”

“Udit Raj is notorious for looking for opportunities in other parties for his selfish interests. He is concerned about the Bahujan Movement only so that he can become an MP or MLA from some party. This has nothing to do with the uplift of the Bahujan society,” Anand said.

He said that the language used was unacceptable. “I am a young soldier of the Bahujan Mission, but I understand the mission of Baba Saheb and Manyavar Saheb more than him. The kind of threat that is in his language today is absolutely unacceptable to us, to crores of soldiers of the Bahujan Mission… Forgetting the mission of Saheb in his selfishness, this sycophant is today threatening to ‘strangle’ our

Mayawati, who has given social and economic freedom to millions of Dalits, exploited, deprived the poor of the country with political power,” Anand said.

Meanwhile, after the controversy deepened, Raj posted a clarification on X on Tuesday. He wrote: “First of all, I would like to clarify that my statement should not be linked to Congress. Mayawati ji has misled people for 4 decades by spreading lies, propaganda, and calling Congress anti-Dalit. Using Dr Ambedkar as a shield, she cut the throat of Congress and enjoyed power. Crores of Bahujan workers created the movement by staying hungry and thirsty. Their donations, hard work, and sacrifice were suffocated. BSP never opened a front against RSS. Even today, they keep targeting Congress by making some reason or the other so that Dalits do not join. The time has come to send home the one who cut the throat of the entire Bahujan movement.”

“The conference and press conference were organised by the Dalit, OBC, Minority, and Adivasi Parishath. By attacking Congress again with the support of BJP, it has been shown that BSP is BJP’s ‘B’ team. "Please do not drag Congress into this controversy. We are committed to saving the Bahujan movement, no matter what sacrifices we have to make. Udit Raj is a person who has never lied to anyone nor done any dishonesty. I have never compromised on principles and I will never do so,” Udit Raj added.