Bahujan Samaj Party chief Mayawati attacked Prime Minister Narendra Modi saying that merely giving respect to monuments of Dr Ambedkar would not help the Dalits until serious steps were taken for their welfare.
``Modi is claiming that his government has given respectability to places and monuments associated with Dr Ambedkar. But by doing this, Dalits were not going to be benefited,” asserted Mayawati on the occasion of Dr Ambedkar’s 127th birth anniversary on Saturday.
The main function of Ambedkar Jayanti was celebrated in lucknow by BSP leaders and workers but Mayawati preferred to remain in New Delhi where she spoke to media persons to attack the Union government.
Alleging that the BJP was playing politics over matters related to Dalits, the BSP chief said that the Central government was yet to change it’s mindset to do justice to the community. ``Instead of doing politics, had the BJP changed it’s mindset towards Dalits then the Centre would have made necessary amendments to give more teeth to SC & ST Act and check atrocities against the community,” she asserted while accusing the BJP for the recent Supreme Court judgment easing the arrest condition of accused in cases of SC & ST Act.
“Had the Modi government pursued the matter seriously, such orders would not have come in the benefit of those harassing Dalits,” she claimed.
Mayawati also said that the BJP government was sitting idle when subversive forces were vandalizing statues of Dr Ambedkar.
“The BJP has no moral right to celebrate Dr Ambedkar’s birth anniversary as they have failed to check vandalizing of statues of Babasaheb. Instead of bringing the culprits involved in such incidents or violence to book, the BJP government was arresting or harassing Dalits and BSP leaders and workers,” claimed Mayawati.