Shah’s ‘money-minting’ comment reflects casteist mindset: Maya
Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) chief Mayawati on Sunday hit back at Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) national president Amit Shah who on Saturday accused the four-time former UP chief minister of turning her party into a money-minting machine.
In a stinging riposte, Mayawati said Shah’s remarks at a rally in Mau smacked of “gross casteist and jealous mindset”.
She was speaking at a meeting of party coordinators and office-bearers here on Sunday.
“Because of the BSP, the bahujan samaj has become ‘giver’ from the ‘seeker’ that it was,” she said.
The BJP-led NDA government was “losing” its credibility as it was working for capitalists and not for the poor, the Dalits, religious minorities and other deprived sections, she alleged.
“That’s why BJP lost byelections in several states,” she added.
Amit Shah had praised BSP founder Kanshi Ram as “a man with a clear heart” but also said, “Mayawati has turned the BSP into a money-minting machine”.
During a meeting to review the BSP’s preparedness to expand its support base in runup of the 2017 assembly election, Mayawati told the party workers to remain alert about “conspiracies” being hatched by the BJP, the SP and the Congress.
She said the BSP was pursuing a humanitarian movement with “small contributions”, whereas the BJP, the Congress and their governments, who took help from capitalists, had become their “slaves”.
Mayawati said the ruling Samajwadi Party’s claims of development were “hollow”.
“The quality of most of the new construction works is so poor that it affects their optimum use in public interest. Even then action is not taken against the guilty,” she said. Mayawati warned that once the BSP came to power, an inquiry would be conducted and the guilty would be penalised.
She also said the BSP’s rival parties talked about development and public welfare for political gain but they were dividing the society on caste and religious lines, and indulging in polarisation, misleading campaigns and character assassination.