Congress a casteist party, says BSP chief Mayawati

NEW DELHI: Bahujan Samaj Party leader Mayawati lashed out at the Congress a day after its vice-president Rahul Gandhi accused her of capturing the leadership of Dalits and stifling opportunities for others in the community, saying the party’s anti-Dalit mindset was evident in its decision not to declare even a day’s national mourning when BSP founder Kanshi Ram died.

Mayawati on Wednesday said the Congress had an especially “casteist” and “disdainful” attitude towards Kanshi Ram. “This is the reason why the Congress-led government at the Centre did not declare even a day’s mourning on his death for which our people will never forgive the Congress. This is a proof of their anti-Dalit mentality for which we criticise them in strong words,” Mayawati said while addressing BSP workers in Noida at an event organised to mark the seventh death anniversary of the party founder.

Gandhi’s attack on Tuesday had come on a day when the CBI closed a disproportionate assets case against the BSP chief. Although the BSP lends outside support to the Congress-led coalition at the Centre, the Congress is keen to make inroads into the UP-based party’s core constituency among the Dalits ahead of the next general elections.

At an awareness camp on empowerment of SCs in Delhi, Gandhi had said that leadership in the Dalit community had arisen in waves, with leaders like BR Ambedkar emerging in the first wave and in the second wave Kanshi Ram, and to an extent Mayawati, had extended the movement. “But now she has captured the leadership with no scope for a second line,” Gandhi said.