Attempts to freeze BSP symbol, a conspiracy of opposition parties, says Mayawati
Lucknow: Bahujan Samaj Party President Mayawati on Monday said that the attempts to freeze her party's election symbol through various objections were a conspiracy backed by the opposition parties. Ms. Mayawati also rejected the
description that the elephant statues erected in parks and memorials to Dalit icons
were related to her party's election symbol, as she said that the statues the elephants
have been shown welcoming with their snouts up, whereas the elephant in the BSP's
election symbol has been
shown with its snout down. The BSP is to submit its reply on a petition filed
against the elephant statues with the poll panel on March 18. Addressing her party's
massive rally on the occasion of 25 years BSP's existence and the birth anniversary
of its founder Kanshi Ram, at the Ramabai Ambedkar Maidan here on Monday, Ms.
Mayawati said the Election Commission should take a view of the Congress and
SP's
symbols. Cycles were being distributed to the beneficiaries of the Savitribai
Phule Scheme for girls launched by the BSP Government and the hand was used by
leaders of all political parties to welcome people, Ms. Mayawati said. During
her 90-minute long address Ms. Mayawati trained her guns on the Congress and
dubbed
it as anti-Dalit, which supported the caste system. Justifying the erection of
her own statues along with other BSP leaders, Ms. Mayawati said: "Is there any
law in the country which bans building statues of living leaders and whether funds
can be spent only on erecting statues of dead leaders and not the living ones?".
She pointed out that the statues of form prime ministers and congress leaders
like Jawaharlal Nehru, Indira Gandhi and Rajiv Gandhi have been erected throughout
the country by the Congress and several schemes, colleges, universities, airports,
railway stations and roads using government funds have been named after them.
In last 63 years since Independence crores have been spent on building memorials
and museums of Gandhi-Nehru family. But, when statues and memorials to Mr.
Kanshi
Ram and other icons are built, the BSP Government has been charged by the
opposition
with misusing government money, Ms. Mayawati reminded the public in the rally.
However, a giant garland, which was put around Ms. Mayawati by BSP supporters,
attracted attention of all, as it was alleged that it was made of Rs. 1,000 Indian
currency notes.
Tens of thousands of BSP supporters had congregated in Lucknow to participate in the mass rally to commemorate the 25th
anniversary of the party, which coincides with the birth anniversary of party founder
Kanshi Ram. Media reports said Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister and BSP supremo
Mayawati has spent around two billion rupees for the rally. About 10,000 police
personnel have been deployed for the rally. Two special trains would also run to
transfer party workers to and from Lucknow .
Supporters gathered at the venue early morning and were anxiously waiting for
their leader to arrive. "We have come here to show our support to our leader so
that she moves forward and we stay united. We are waiting for her to come and
are ready to wait till tomorrow," said Shankar Lal, a BSP supporter. Mayawati
had earlier come under criticism, with opposition parties in the state accusing
her of amassing wealth and misusing the state administration. Earlier, Mayawati
had charged the Central Government of playing politics over Pratapgarh stampede
saying the State Government did not have enough funds to help the victims of the
stampede. At least 65 people were killed in were killed in a stampede on March
4 in Kripaluji Maharaj's Ashram in Mangarh village of Pratapgarh district.
Meanwhile, the giant garland, used to honour Bahujan Samaj Party president
Mayawati by her supporters during the party's silver jubilee celebrations on Monday led to a new controversy, as it was alleged to be made of Rs1,000 Indian currency notes. The controversy, highlighted by various media channels in the evening, gained ground when Congress party questioned the source of the money. The BSP's arch rival Samajwadi Party in Uttar Pradesh demanded an investigation by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) into the matter. "It's a scandalous show of money
power," Congress spokesperson Manish Tewari was quoted by a private channel as
saying. "It's the same CM who says the State doesn't have funds to compensate
the Pratapgarh stampede victims," Tewari added. In the evening, Samajwadi Party
alleged that there were thousands of Rs. 1000 notes used in garland and also
demanded an investigation by the Central Bureau of Investigation into the matter. Opposition parties, earlier in the day, also raised eyebrows over the alleged Rs. 200 crores spent on the organization of the BSP rally on Monday besides questioning how could the Uttar Pradesh CM could hold a rally in an area that was under curfew. Later VN Sharma of the BSP admitted that the garland was a gift of all BSP state Presidents to the party president after initially his party rubbishing the allegations. Mayawati's rally also came in for criticism by the Bharatiya Janata Party. "The extravagance of the BSP has been questioned by even the Supreme Court," said Rajiv Pratap Rudi of the Bharatiya Janata Party.
