Mayawati lambasts Cong govt in Punjab, calls it anti-Dalit

Nawanshahr (Punjab): BSP supremo Mayawati on Tuesday lashed out at the successive Congress governments at the Centre and in Punjab for their alleged anti-Dalit stance and policies. The Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) decided to have an alliance with the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) in Punjab for the February 20 polls so that aspirations of Dalit stalwarts like Dr B R Ambedkar and BSP founder Kanshi Ram could be fulfilled, she said.

Kickstarting her party’s and its alliance SAD-BSP’s election campaign at a “Chon Jan Sabha” at Dana Mandi here, she said time had come when Congress government in Punjab too needs to be shown the door. Terming Congress “a jabardast Dalit virodhi party” (anti-Dalit party), she said the party had always been against the weaker and deprived sections including adivasis, Dalits and backward classes.

“Cong because of its antiDalit and anti-poor stance neither conferred Barat Ratna on Dr B R Ambedkar nor on Kanshi Ram though they qualified for it in all respects,” she said.