Seeking to drive a wedge into the anti-BJP alliance, Uttar Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister Keshav Prasad Maurya said that BSP president Mayawati would be ‘ditched’ by SP chief Akhilesh Yadav after the Lok Sabha poll results were announced on May 23.
“The Samajwadi Party has never given due honour to Dalits. In 1995, when Mayawati was attacked by SP leaders on Mulayam Singh Yadav’s direction at the State Guest House in Lucknow, it was the BJP which saved her. Now, his (Mulayam’s) son Akhilesh will dump her after May 23 and it would once again be left to the BJP to support her,” Maurya said in Lucknow on Monday.
“Whenever Mayawati is in crisis, the BJP supports her and will continue to do so in the future also,” he said.
Asserting that the Bharatiya Janata Part was pro-Dalit, Maurya said, “At Kumbh Mela, Prime Minister Narendra Modi washed the feet of sanitary workers to honour them. Our party leaders have always been there for Dalits.”
On the Congress’ prospects in the general elections, the Deputy Chief Minister said that irrespective of the tall claims of opposition parties, its strength would be reduced further after the polls,
“The BJP is going to form the government under the leadership of Narendra Modi again, with UP giving the party 74 plus seats,” he said.
Maurya’s statement came a day after he targeted Bahujan Samaj Party chief Mayawati on her remark at a Deoband rally, where she asked Muslim voters not to split their votes.
“Her statement clearly indicates that she has only used Dalits as a vote bank and has not respected them. She has started hating them after their tilt towards the BJP as we empowered them. She has now appealed to Muslims to vote for her but the community knows the reality of the SP-BSP-RLD alliance,” Maurya said.
Asked about the SP’s poll promises, Maurya said, “SP chief Akhilesh Yadav has not been loyal to his father Mulayam (Singh Yadav) and uncle Shivpal (Singh Yadav). How can he be loyal to Mayawatiji, whom he calls ‘bua’? He should not be trusted by Mayawati. He was taught a lesson in 2017 UP Assembly polls by the people and once again, his party will meet the same fate.”
Maurya added, “The SP-BSP-RLD pre-poll alliance is purely opportunistic and will end automatically in the near future due to conflict of interests.”
On the achievements of the BJP government in UP in the last two years, Maurya claimed that law and order situation had improved due to which the state was attracting investments and people could go anywhere without ‘fear’.
“The ‘jungle raj’ of the previous SP regime ended immediately after the BJP came to power. Criminals, who were ruling the roost, are now behind bars or have left the state for good,” Maurya said, exuding confidence that the state would once again give the maximum number of seats to the BJP in the Lok Sabha polls.