Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) supremo Mayawati raked up the issue of separate Poorvanchal State mooted by her Government during 2007-12 while alleging that the ruling Samajwadi Party has failed to keep its promise to develop Azamgarh on the lines of Saifai and Etawah. She also targeted Prime Minister Narendra Modi, saying that he has failed to fulfil most of the promises made during the 2014 lok Sabha elections.
Mayawati, while addressing huge ‘Sarvajan Hitay Sarvajan sukhya’ rally in Azamgarh on Sunday, said, “Eastern UP can be developed only if it gets separate identity. The previous BSP Government had adopted a resolution in the State Assembly for the creation of Poorvanchal State. The then Congress-led UPA Govern-ment ignored and the present NDA Government has also not paid any attention to it.”
Sending clear signals about her pre-poll strategy for 2017 UP Assembly elections, Mayawati slammed the BJP, RSS and Samajwadi Party. She alleged that the BJP and SP were in chaoot to prevent the BSP from coming to power. In her hour-long speech, the entire fire and brimstone was aimed at the BJP and the SP while she almost ignored the Congress.
“BJP is in deep distress in UP. They engineered splits in other parties in Bihar to get the candidates and they are doing same thing in UP. The leaders rejected by the BSP are welcomed by none other than the BJP president Amit Shah. All the dirt from the BSP has gone to the BJP as this is the rightful place of the leaders expelled from the BSP. I thank the BJP for helping us to clean our party before the BSP government in formed in UP’’, said Mayawati.
“SP had promised to develop Azamgarh on the lines of Saifai and Etawah, but they failed to do so. Now it is the time of the people to show them their power by defeating SP candidates in all the over 65 seats in this region of three divisions of Azamgarh, Basti and Ambedkarnagar. She also targeted Prime Minister Narendra Modi for his failure on the front of social welfare and to protect the people from the wrath of the saffron brigade.
Hoping to consolidate her vote share among Dalits and Muslims, she said crime and persecution of Muslims have increased under BJP rule. “They victimise Muslims in the name of gau raksha, aatankwad and love jihad. We must stop BJP from coming to power. Otherwise, development will be secondary and the strategy of RSS will be served first,” she said.
On the Congress, she said the party wants to garner support of the upper castes and “has made an old Brahmin woman the CM candidate who had blamed the people of UP and Bihar for Delhi’s filth during her regime besides her government misused funds meant for Dalits”. She further said that BSP was fighting for reservation in the private sector since long but Congress had always ditched the dalits and backwards.
She accused the BJP government of failing its electoral promise of the 2014 elections. “The BJP had promised to bring back black money, and give jobs to the youths.” But they totally failed on it.”