Mayawati demanded justice for the victims of the Sonbhadra clash in Uttar Pradesh

Bahujan Samaj Party president Mayawati Friday accused both the BJP and the Congress of continued "harassment of tribals" and demanded justice for the victims of the Sonbhadra clash in Uttar Pradesh, which left 10 people dead.

In a tweet, the BSP president said, "The Congress and BJP governments at the Centre are equally responsible for atrocities on the adivasi samaj. During the Congress rule, the adivasis were ejected from the forest and some of them became Naxalites in protest."

"Now, during the BJP rule, members of the Kol/adivasi samaj were ejected from Sonbhadra and killed. But the matter which needed to be stressed is that whoever is out of power among these two, sheds crocodile tears whenever there are cases of atrocities," she added.

The BSP chief further claimed that her party had been "pressuring" the administration to ensure justice to the victims.

"The BJP government should provide justice to the victims. This is the demand of the BSP," she added.

The BSP president's comments on the Wednesday's clash came on the day when Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi met families of the victims in Varanasi before being detained from proceeding towards Sonbhadra by the authorities.