lok-sabha-elections

Updated: Apr 06, 2019 19:31 IST

Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) supremo Mayawati on Saturday promised permanent jobs to the poor, hitting out at the Congress’s Nyuntam Aay Yojana (NYAY) that assures Rs 6,000 per month to the poorest.

“Like BJP’s (promises), the NYAY of the Congress is also a hollow poll promise. It’s not a permanent solution to alleviate poverty. If voted to power, we will give permanent jobs to the poor in government and private sectors,” Mayawati announced at a poll rally in Roorkee, about 30 km from Haridwar city.

The BSP has fielded Antariksha Saini from Haridwar Lok Sabha seat. The party, which is in alliance with the Samajwadi Party, is contesting four of the five Lok Sabha seats in Uttarakhand.

She attacked the BJP and Congress for “failing to work” for the poor, Dalits, tribals and minorities.

“The present BJP-led NDA government and previous Congress governments only made promises for the development of oppressed sections. The Modi government has claimed to have implemented development schemes for the poor while the Congress has promised many such schemes in its manifesto which are just poll gimmicks,” she said adding, “Our BSP-SP coalition would do development works for the uplift of these sections.”

Attacking PM Modi, Mayawati said, “This time none of his jumlebazi or new found chowkidari would work to attract votes. People know that he has done nothing for development. They would certainly vote him and his party out of power.”

She claimed that Modi has only worked to make his “rich industrialist friends” richer.

“His government has only made policies pertaining to RSS ideology and capitalism. BJP would be thrown out in this election because of casteism and hatred it promoted,” Mayawati said.

“The Congress faced the same fate in the last general elections and in many assembly elections because of its wrong deeds. Only a BSP-SP government is capable of living up to expectations of the poor,” the BSP chief told the election rally in Uttarakhand.

The BSP chief attacked the NDA government for its “failure to provide reservation” to the Dalits in the private sector. She said, “Those in government in the reserved category also failed to get any benefit because almost all government works are being done by private sector under his rule.”

Reacting to her claims, state BJP spokesperson Virendra Singh Bisht said the SP-BSP tie-up is based on casteism while BJP’s alliance is based on nationalism. “She accuses us of doing nothing for the poor and Dalits but the truth is that her government in UP worked for the rich… Modiji has done development works for the poor,” Bisht said.

“It is because of her wrong policies that she was voted out of power during assembly elections and even failed to win a single seat in 2014 LS polls,” he said.

On the other hand, Vijay Saraswat, state Congress general secretary said, “She (Mayawati) is forgetting that it was only Congress government which gave reservation to Dalits. Nobody has done development works for Dalits to the extent as Congress did.”