Mayawati launches 2014 campaign; targets SP, Congress

New Delhi: Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) supremo Mayawati on Tuesday launched her campaign for the 2014 General Elections at a rally in Lucknow. Lashing out at the Congress and the Samajwadi Party (SP), she said that the two parties were anti-Dalit and that no anti-Dalit party will ever get her support.

Welcoming her supporters, Mayawati asked them to not forget their leader Kanshi Ram, whose contribution to the Dalit community had been immense. "I welcome all the BSP workers who have come from across the country. I condemn the Congress for not announcing a holiday on the death of Kanshi Ram. The central government and the state government are anti-Dalit," she said.

Mayawati further took a dig at Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh saying that his family members and he would have been working in farmland if not for leaders like BR Ambedkar, who worked for the upliftment of Dalits.

Slamming the Congress and the SP as anti-Dalit, she said that she will not support any party that was opposed to the Dalits.

Mayawati slammed the UP government for ignoring the welfare of minorities. "The SP government has not done anything for the Yadav community and the Muslims. We have never discriminated against the Yadav community or the Muslim community," she said. She attacked the state government for the deteriorating law and order situation. "Women are not safe in UP anymore. No work is done without paying bribes. During my government in UP, we maintained peace, law and order," she said.

Accusing the SP government of promoting corruption, Mayawati said, "We provided employment opportunities to the jobless instead of paying them. The promise of giving laptops or tabs to students will end up in these being sold at shops."

She did not spare the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) either. Accusing the party of being hand-in-glove with the Congress, Mayawati said that the two parties worked together during the UP Assembly polls earlier this year to oust her. "The Congress and the BJP are responsible for the sufferings of the people of UP. They worked together secretly with the SP against the BSP. Both the Congress and the BJP worked against the BSP to ensure that we do not come to power in UP again. They are afraid of the growth of the BSP in UP. I am confident that the people of UP will give a befitting reply to all the three parties in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections," Mayawati said.

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