Mayawati seeks Bharat Ratna for Kanshiram, other dalit leaders

LUCKNOW: Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) chief Mayawati on Saturday played the dalit card once again, alleging that the NDA government’s decision to confer Bharat Ratna on Atal Bihari Vajpayee and Madan Mohan Malaviya was largely driven by a casteist approach that honoured only the upper caste.
Speaking to reporters on Saturday, Mayawati said that dalit leaders, including BSP founder Kanshiram, should also have been considered for the honour.“But it is sad that none of the dalit leaders and saints were ever considered for Bharat Ratna. Giving respect was still subjected to 'Hindu Varna System','' she said. The BSP chief recalled how the Congress ruled Central government did not even announce `National mourning' when Kanshiram died on October 9, 2006.
Mayawati said that the present government had gone one step further by trying to abolishing the reservation system provided to the people of the lower caste. This she said was done by allocating big projects to corporate houses without ensuring reservation in private sector. “It is a conspiracy to ensure that dalits become more backward,'' Mayawati charged.
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Speaking on the religious ‘reconversion’ issue, Mayawati said that the BJP and its associated organizations like RSS, Vishwa Hindu Parishad and Bajrang Dal wanted to convert India into a `Hindu Rashtra'. This, she said, was a serious threat to the secular fabric of the country.

Mayawati, the-then vice-president of Bahujan Samaj Party and former UP chief minister with Kanshi Ram, celebrating her 50th Birthday at her residence in New Delhi, on January 15, 2006. (Getty Images file photo)
She also alleged that Modi government was playing in the hands of some big private companies by bringing in a land acquisition ordinance that would potentially hit poor farmers. Mayawati said that the government should have consulted all political parties before coming up with such an ordinance.
The former UP chief minister said that it was more than seven months since Modi government came to power after showing dreams of `acche din' to the people but none of its promises including bringing back black money was anywhere in the sight. I hope that this drama will not continue any further,'' she said.
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"Even the decline in the price of diesel and petrol is not because of Narendra Modi. It because of fall in the crude oil prices in the international market,'' she said. The BSP chief said that even the fall in inflation rate was only on papers.
Mayawati charged that various previous Central schemes that were framed for the benefit of the poor have either been shunned or put on the back burner. ``The present Central government has also not been able to provide enough security to the people. The massacre of people from the ST category is an apt example to prove this,'' she said.