Mayawati rattled by Modi's demonetisation move: BJP

NEW DELHI: Hitting back at BSP supremo Mayawati, BJP today said her attack on Prime Minister Narendra Modi was politically motivated as she has been rattled by his strike at black money with demonetisation which has rendered the "illicit" money with her party worthless.

The BJP accused Mayawati of corruption while practising politics in the name of Dalits and poor, claiming that she was in desperation following Modi's policies aimed at their welfare.

"The Prime Minister had announced the day he came to power that his government would be dedicated to the poor's welfare. Every scheme of his government, be it Mudra, life and health insurance or Ujjwala, are in this direction.

"Those who collected money in the name of Dalits and the poor has been rattled and are desperate with Modi's work for their uplift. All the money collected by her through corrupt means has been left worthless. Her charges against him are politically motivated and baseless. We reject it," BJP National Secretary Shrikant Sharma said.

The demonetisation decision has struck at the root of bureaucrat-politician nexus which robbed the poor for decades, he claimed.

Under Mayawati government, over 30000 cases of atrocities against Dalits were registered besides 11000 cases of murders, he claimed, questioning her claim of working for the community.

To bolster BJP's pro-Dalit credentials, he said Dalit icon B R Ambedkar was given Bharat Ratna award by the National Front government supported by it while the Modi government has developed five places associated with him.

"On the other hand Mayawati supported Congress all these years even as it was Congress which did nothing for Ambedkar and even worked to defeat him in elections," he said.

BJP, he claimed will form the next government in Uttar Pradesh as people want to get rid of SP and BSP, both of whom have done little development.

"She should answer to people about the works of her previous governments. The Modi government will give an account of its work when it goes to the polls in 2019," he said.

In a swipe at Modi over his 'fakir' remark, Mayawati had said his note ban decision has turned a majority of the country's people into pauper but not him, and it will lead to BJP finishing fourth in the Uttar Pradesh polls.

Responding to her 'Hindutva politics' charge at BJP, Sharma said the Allahabad High Court had agreed that there was a temple in Ayodhya and his party believes in court's order or consensus reached through dialogue as a solution to the matter.