The Hindu : Cong. anti-Dalit, says Mayawati

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Tuesday, Jun 24, 2003

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Cong. anti-Dalit, says Mayawati

By Our Special Correspondent

NEW DELHI JUNE 23. The Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister, Mayawati, today let loose a tirade against the Congress charging that it continues to pursue its `anti-Dalit' policy.

The provocation for her diatribe was the decision of the Punjab Government not to accord sanction to the Bahujan Samaj Party to hold a protest rally at Jalandhar next month.

Ms. Mayawati, who is the vice-president of the BSP, criticised the Chief Minister, Amarinder Singh, for not allowing her party to organise the meeting on July 7. The BSP, she said, wanted to express solidarity with the Punjab `Dalits' who came under attack recently in Talhana.

The area had witnessed clashes earlier this month between Dalits and upper castes on the issue of being accommodated in a panel which controlled a religious shrine in the village. The issue was sorted out later.

Ms. Mayawati condemned the Punjab Government which did not grant permission on the grounds that the situation was not conducive for such a rally. "Dalits in Punjab are being targeted and I being their representative was not being permitted to meet them.

This reflected the anti-Dalit attitude of the Congress and its Chief Minister in Punjab,'' she said at a press conference. The Congress, she claimed, got unnerved by her move to have a rally and charged with the party has a history of being anti-Dalits.

Referring to the Assembly elections in Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Delhi and Chhattisgarh, she said the BSP would go it alone.

The BJP would have been happy to expand its understanding with the BSP outside U.P., particularly in Madhya Pradesh.

Referring to the controversy over construction in Taj corridor, the Chief Minister said the State Government had already initiated an inquiry.

Asserting that she had stopped construction activity as soon as she came to know of it, Ms. Mayawati said there was no difference between the Centre and the U.P. Government.

The State Government was sensitive to the historical and cultural importance of the world famous monument.

The State Government would act against any official who may be found guilty in the inquiry committee report, she said.

On Ayodhya, she said, the BSP was of the view that in the absence of any consensus on the issue between the two communities, all should accept the verdict of the court.

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