NAWANSHAHR: Bahujan Samaj Party supremo Mayawati on Tuesday sought to take air out of the Congress's scheduled caste card in shape of its chief ministerial candidate Charanjit Singh Channi.
The SC CM face was only a desperate measure in bad times of the party to attract voters, she alleged and then attacked Channi for not visiting Ravidas temple after being announced CM face and instead going to a temple in Himachal Pradesh.
It was her first rally in Punjab and may remain the only one, which she jointly addressed with SAD president Sukhbir Singh Badal, during electioneering before the polling on Feburary 20.
"When the Congress is in power and in good times, it never remembers progress of Dalits or to have a Dalit as CM or to have them in top offices. Reality is that that Congress has made Channi CM or now CM face due to the compulsion as they are set to lose and need Dalit votes. But even if they have, due to their political selfishness, then such a fellow, as is now happening in Punjab, can't work with full honour and authority and his remote control would be in hands of non-Dalits. In Punjab we are already seeing it," she alleged in her address.
"In the first place, the Congress has no chance to return to power, but even if it happens, then first thing will be to push him (Channi) aside. Channi should understand this motive, but he is happily becoming part of everything. After being announced CM candidate, he went to a temple in Himachal Pradesh. We have no objection to that as that is one's personal faith.
But it would have been better that on this occasion he would have also gone to Ravidas temple and took Sant Guru Ravidas's blessings but he did not do that. Now, I appeal to Ravidas followers to vote for their own alliance and to make Channi realise their power," BSP supremo said.
Channi too comes from the same Ravidassia community, where BSP has its voting base.
She also said, "Announcement were made related to places of Dalit sants but these were not fulfilled and this reflects reality of the Punjab CM."
The Congress remained in power at the Centre and in most of the state, but it went out of power due to its own wrong policies and this time it would be out of power in Punjab also, Mayawati claimed. "The party is highly casteist and remained against SCs and backwards classes," she alleged, adding that the party did not honour Dr B R Ambedkar with Bharat Ratna and later did not observe national mourning even for a single day after demise of BSP founder Kanshi Ram.
"It did not implement Mandal Commission report and it was BSP which got it implemented from V P Singh government and also Bharat Ratna for Dr Ambedkar from that government."
BSP founder late Kanshi Ram is venerated among BSP cadres but the party has been failing to get any electoral success for the over two decades. Mayawati invoked his name to further stimulate the cadres and also said that he made one last ditch effort in Punjab in 2002 election and "worked very hard but you did not fully support him and the hard work during elections and later the results had adverse impact on his health". She also said that now it was an alliance and now it is the time to realise his dream to bring BSP into power through alliance.
Mayawati also said that especially due to its capitalist thinking, BJP will go out as the Congress in some years. She also emphasized that workers of both the parties should extend full support to candidates of either party.
'BSP never acquired land of farmers in UP'
Mayawati said that SAD-BSP alliance would not allow anti-farmers policies which were pushed by BJP. Earlier false propaganda about land acquisition was launched, she said, adding that her government in UP never acquired land of any farmers for giving it to Dalits. "We only gave plots from government lands to people from depressed or weaker sections. People should remain aware of any false propaganda against BSP," she said, adding, "We took care of poor of upper castes also."
The Charanjit Singh Channi government had earlier issued a letter seeking report from districts about landholdings to find out if there were any violations of the Land Ceiling Act but this was quickly withdrawn for fear of backlash from farming community.
