Mayawati on Friday said Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s remark that the Samajwadi Party-Bahujan Samaj Party alliance was “casteist” is “laughable” and “immature”. The Bahujan Samaj Party chief also said that Modi has never faced the “pain of casteism”.
At a rally last month, Modi had said: “Mayawatiji, I am the most backward...I request with folded hands not to drag me into caste politics, 130 crore people are my family. This country did not know my caste till my detractors abused me...I am thankful to Mayawatiji, Akhileshji, the Congress people and the mahamilavatis that they are discussing my caste...I believe that taking birth in a backward caste is an opportunity to serve the country.”
“How can those who face casteism be casteist themselves?” Mayawati tweeted on Friday. “Modi, who was not born into the Other Backward Classes, does not know the pain of casteism, and hence resorts to such falsehoods.”
“Modi indulged in casteism by describing himself as ‘zabardasti ka pichhda’ [backward class by compulsion],” she added. “Had he been backward by birth, the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh would not have let him become the prime minister. What the RSS has done to [BJP leader] Kalyan Singh is known to all.”
At a press conference, Mayawati said that Modi should consider the situation in his home state of Gujarat, ABP News reported. She alleged that Dalits are not allowed to live a life of dignity in Gujarat. “The other day, a Dalit man was not allowed to ride a horse during his wedding,” she said. She was referring to an incident in a village in Mehsana district, where the Dalit community faced a social boycott.
The Bahujan Samaj chief also claimed that the kind of language Modi has been using against Opposition parties in his rallies revealed that the Bharatiya Janata Party is going to lose the Lok Sabha elections. “They are making all kinds of false, baseless allegations against the Opposition, she said. “The whole country now knows that the BJP will not return to power. Especially, Modi’s dream of becoming the prime minister again will not come true.”
The fifth phase of the seven-phase Lok Sabha elections concluded on May 6. Results for all seven phases will be declared on May 23.
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