Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav on Thursday alleged that the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) has done a 'secret agreement' with the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and said that Mayawati is 'grateful to the oppressors' for mutual benefit. His remarks come after Mayawati took a dig at Yadav, calling the Samajwadi Party 'two-faced'.
"Because 'their' internal collusion continues, that is why they are grateful to their oppressors," Yadav said at a press conference in Lucknow, noting that it was the SP and party patriarch Mulayam Singh Yadav who supported Kanshi Ram in becoming an MP from Etawah. "If anyone other than Mayawati has installed her statue, it’s me... During the SP government, all memorials were properly maintained."
During the presser, Yadav, who was Uttar Pradesh's chief minister from 2012 to 2017, also reiterated his PDA formula (pichade, dalit and alpsankhyak) and called to strengthen it. He further said that the SP needs to continue to fight to establish a democratic government in the state and establish social justice. "If we keep connecting with people, then the Samajwadi Party and the INDIA alliance will form government in the near future," he noted.
Mayawati calls Samajwadi Party 'two-faced'
Earlier in the day, Mayawati called the Samajwadi Party 'two-faced', saying Yadav's party remembers the Dalits only when it needs them. Speaking at a rally to commemorate the 19th death anniversary of BSP founder Kanshi Ram, the former Uttar Pradesh chief minister also accused Yadav's party of neglecting Dalit memorials when it was in power in the state, saying he did not even spent a rupee on their upkeep.
"When they are in power, they neither remember PDA, nor saints, gurus, and great personalities associated with it. But the moment they lose power, they suddenly start remembering our saints, gurus, and great men. People need to be very cautious of such double-faced individuals," she said.
She also lauded Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath and said the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government had maintained parks and other memorials which were built when the BSP was in power. "I wrote a letter to the chief minister requesting that the ticket money collected from visitors be used for maintenance. The BJP government assured us that this money would not be diverted elsewhere but would be used only for upkeep and they did so. For this, our party is thankful to them," she said.
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