Sambhal violence: BSP supremo Mayawati accuses Congress, SP of stocking communal tensions for electoral gains

Mayawati also held Congress responsible for the plight of Dalits and urged the BJP government to undo the Congress's wrongs

Mayawati on Sambhal violence Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) chief Mayawati addresses a press conference at her residence, in Lucknow | PTI

Mayawati has accused the Samajwadi Party and the Congress of promoting infighting between various Muslim sects and of ignoring the plight of Dalits who constitute the majority Hindu population in Bangladesh. 

She said that behind the cloak of the violence in Sambhal, the Congress and the SP were trying to attract the Muslim vote bank by stoking the differences between the Turks and the non-Turks. She also accused them of being silent on the issue of atrocities on Dalits- be it in India or Bangladesh despite making use of the Dalit vote to get people from the community elected to Parliament. 

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Mayawati’s criticism of the BJP though was almost absent as she called upon the government to fulfil its duties by protecting Dalits against atrocities- be they in the country or in Bangladesh. 

She also accused the Congress of being responsible for the plight of Dalits and weaker sections in Bangladesh and urged that the government get them back to India. She said that the BSP would be very grateful to the government for such an act that ensured the security of the weakest. 

The BSP president and former UP chief minister said that the opposition in the state was more interested in raising the issue of Sambhal rather than issues of public interest. She cautioned Muslim communities against the Congress and the Samajwadi Party using them for votes and harming them.

She said that Dalits were being punished for electing Baba Saheb Ambedkar to the constituent assembly. She said that the Congress had also punished Ambedkar by giving him a constituency which fell in the territory of Pakistan. 

“They (the Congress) were silent when they (Dalits) were being exploited and is now shouting the name of Sambhal for its benefit”, Mayawati said.

She asked the BJP to undo the wrongs which had been done to Dalits by the ‘narrow sectarian’ policy of the Congress.

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