Responding to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s remark that the SP-BSP ‘mahagathbandhan’ is casteist, BSP chief Mayawati said that he is not an “OBC by birth”. She also said that the allegation is “laughable and immature”.
“PM’s accusation that ‘mahagathbandhan’ is casteist is laughable and immature. How can those who suffered from casteism be casteist?” Mayawati said in a tweet.
“Entire country knows he isn’t an OBC by birth; he hasn’t suffered from the atrocities of casteism. So he shouldn’t say such lies about ‘mahagathbandhan’,” the former Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister added.
Accusing the PM of deliberately portraying himself as a member of the backward caste for political advantage, Mayawati also took a jibe at the RSS.
“Modi indulged in casteism by describing himself ‘zabardasti ka pichhda’ (backward). Had he been backward by birth, would the RSS let him become the PM? What RSS has done to leaders like Kalyan Singh is known to all,” she said, referring to the former UP Chief Minister who is currently the Governor of Rajasthan.
The former CM, whose party is contesting the Lok Sabha elections in an alliance with the SP and RLD, asserted that the BJP is not coming to power again.
At a recent rally in Uttar Pradesh’s Azamgarh, PM Modi had accused the BJP and SP of indulging in caste politics.
“The people who have indulged in vote-bank and casteist politics had put India under duress,” he had said.
Mayawati countered saying that the PM should look at Gujarat were “atrocities are being committed on Dalits”.
On Thursday, Mayawati had in a joint rally of the BSP and its ally the Loktantra Suraksha Party (LSP) in Kurukshetra, accused both the Congress and the BJP of “using Dalits and backward communities as vote bank”.