Madhu Mishra's expulsion an eyewash: Mayawati

LUCKNOW: Charging BJP with having a non- serious attitude towards Dalits, BSP supremo Mayawati today claimed the action taken against state Mahila Morcha chief Madhu Mishra was an "eyewash" ahead of Uttar Pradesh Assembly polls.

"We strongly condemn the casteist statement by BJP state Mahila Morcha chief in Aligarh...her expulsion is an eyewash and formality before the Assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh," Mayawati said in a statement here.

Alleging that BJP had always been casteist and anti- Dalit, Mayawati said members of the community were being humiliated even by those occupying senior positions in the party after it came to power at the Centre.

She said Dalits are being deprived of their right of quota in promotions.

Mayawati said had BJP been so sincere on the issue, it would first have taken action against Union minister V K Singh.

"The most serious statement comparing Dalits to animals by V K Singh is before the people...by doing so he not only degraded the office that he occupies but also flouted the oath of Constitution taken by him...neither the Prime Minister nor BJP leadership has taken action against him till now," she said.

Had BJP leadership's intentions been clear, it would have expelled Singh and thereafter no leader like Mishra would have dared to humiliate Dalits, the former UP chief minister said.

Mayawati was referring to Singh's reaction over the murder of two Dalit children in Faridabad last year.

Blaming family feud for the burning alive of the two children, Singh had said "If someone throws stones at a dog, the government is not responsible".

She also alleged that the Centre's stand on Rohith Vemula's suicide continued to be anti-Dalit.