PM Modi targeting Dalit ki beti: Maya

LUCKNOW: Stung by Prime Minister Narendra Modi's reference to her felicitation with a garland made of currency notes, BSP chief Mayawati said on Monday BJP leaders should refrain from making personal attacks on a "Dalit ki beti (daughter of a Dalit)".
Referring to a 2010 rally at which Mayawati had been felicitated with a garland, Modi said during his Ghazipur rally on Monday, "Woh noton ki maalayein...aisi aisi maalayein..mundi bhi nahin dikhti thi...(Those garlands of currency... one couldn't even see her face)."
Reacting to Modi's comment, Mayawati said the garland was not made of black money. "My supporters don't give me garlands made of ill-begotten cash," Mayawati told reporters here. The BSP chief said while her opposition was restricted to policy matters, she has consistently been targeted personally. "The targeting of a Dalit ki beti shows the mindset of the BJP and the Prime Minister," she said.
The former UP chief minister said the PM should first introspect on corruption in his regime. She accused the BJP government of allowing Vijay Mallya and Lalit Modi to flee the country with public money. She said her party would have joined hands with the government to wipe out corruption and black money provided there was no inconvenience to the public, especially the poor.
The BSP chief said the PM is accountable for the promises he made during the Lok Sabha elections. "People will seek an explanation during the Assembly elections," she said. Mayawati also attacked the BJP for "taking undue advantage" by bringing BJP supporters in trains for free to attend the rally in Ghazipur.
"Those who attended the rally got money... black money which BJP had stored over the years," said Mayawati, claiming that Rs 86,000 crore black money had been turned into white in the BJP government's tenure so far. She also made a jibe at Modi's comment that his government's attack on black money had forced the rich to take sleeping pills. "It is actually the poor who had sleepless nights," she said. Calling it a "financial emergency", Mayawati said the country was on the brink of economic bankruptcy.
Comparing the demonetisation move to the land acquisition bill, Mayawati said the BJP would pay for it. She said the people of Poorvanchal waited for Modi to speak on development but he spoke only about black money and corruption. Mayawati reiterated that only statehood could bring development to Poorvanchal.