Author:
Publication: The Hindu
Date: October 02, 2005
URL: http://www.hindu.com/2005/10/02/stories/2005100207270800.htm
"I am a living goddess, who have dedicated
my life for weaker sections".
Job reservation in private sector to be main
poll plank
BJP, Congress have taken donations from business houses
Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) president Mayawati
on Saturday called upon Dalits, minorities and backward sections to unite
under a single nationwide platform well ahead of the next elections.
Unity would give them the key to political
power at the Centre and in the States, she said.
Addressing a BSP rally here, she said the
party decided to make job reservation in the private sector the main poll
plank. She compared herself to a "living deity,'' who could ameliorate
the socio-economic plight of the Dalits and other downtrodden sections.
"You people waste a lot of money to please
gods and goddesses whom you have not even seen. But here am I, a living goddess,
who have dedicated my life for the welfare of Dalits, Scheduled Castes and
weaker sections. You must donate part of your legitimate earnings for the
cause of your movement, which our party espouses,'' Ms. Mayawati said amid
cheers and shouts hailing her.
Assails Congress, BJP
She said the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)
and the Congress had taken donations from big industrial and business houses.
"So it is but natural that their economic policies will only suit businessmen
and industrial houses. You people unite and grab power at the Centre and fund
your own political party and elections. I promise you that our economic policies
will naturally be drafted for your benefit.''
Criticising the "Manuvadi parties"
such as the Congress and the BJP, she said they followed the British policy
of "divide and rule" to keep the Dalits and other weaker sections
from forging unity.
"If we face elections on a single platform,
no power can prevent us from coming to power at the Centre and in the States.''
The BSP was not vindictive towards upper castes.
Ms. Mayawati pointed out that Satish Chandra
Mishra, a Brahmin, had joined the BSP and was working to bring more people
from upper castes into the party fold. A Rajya Sabha member and former Advocate-General
of Uttar Pradesh, Mr. Mishra is the party general secretary.
Ms. Mayawati accused the Congress and the
BJP of uprooting the backward sections and workers in Delhi by relocating
industrial units in the name of protecting environment.
