Rahul Gandhi takes on Mayawati in Dalit heartland

Babasaheb Ambedkar’s 119th birth anniversary was marked on Wednesday by a war of words between the Congress and the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) in Uttar Pradesh.

BSP chief and chief minister Mayawati dubbed the Congress as “anti-Dalit” and said the party had always humiliated Ambedkar. About an hour later, Congress general secretary Rahul Gandhi, at a rally at Ambedkar Nagar, accused the UP government of neglecting Dalits and alleged large-scale corruption in centrally-sponsored schemes.

Gandhi flagged off a ‘chetna rath yatra’ of 10 vehicles, which will spread the Congress message in all 403 assembly constituencies, in preparation for the 2012 state elections. Rahul’s show was a big success despite “hurdles” the Mayawati regime created.

In his 15-minute speech, Rahul did not refer to Mayawati by name. However, he minced no words in charging her government of corruption. “We gave a central package for Bundelkhand… crores of rupees have been given, but the people on the ground have not benefited. Why? Because the money reaches Lucknow, but does not reach the people it is meant for… no one seems to know where the funds are going,” he remarked.

He said UP’s position had fallen in development charts over 25 years due to the politics of caste and religion. “That politics has failed… now we need a new kind of politics… the politics of youth… the power of youth will change UP,” he declared, inviting applause. “The tide is turning in favour of the Congress… we will bring development and employment, and till that happens, we won’t rest.”

Mayawati railed at the Congress after garlanding Ambedkar’s statue. “The Congress never respected Ambedkar… they did not give him the Bharat Ratna… it was given to him after 43 years of independence in 1990, that too by a non-Congress government, under pressure from the BSP,” she said.

Mayawati justified the huge spending on parks and memorials, saying: “If the Congress had given due respect to Dalit leaders during decades of its rule, we would not be compelled to put up memorials, parks and statues… our opponents can criticise us as much as they want, but we will not bow before them,” she said defiantly.

The BSP chief criticised the Women’s Reservation Bill, as it was against what ‘Babasaheb’ had wanted. She said her party would agitate across the country to “expose” the United Progressive Alliance regime on the issue as also on how the Congress had neglected Dalits.