Mayawati attacks BJP for ignoring corruption of party leaders, while targeting Opposition members

Lucknow: Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) supremo Mayawati on Friday mounted an attack on the BJP for “ignoring the corruption of its own leaders, while making a concerted move to paint the opposition leaders as corrupt”. She also alleged that the saffron party’s government at the Centre was “misusing” the state machinery for the purpose. “There is a continuous move to prove that the leaders of the opposition parties are corrupt by misusing the official machinery like the CBI, ED, Income Tax department and police. But, despite proof of corruption by their own leaders and ministers, no action is being taken,” Mayawati told a meeting of the BSP office-bearers in Lucknow. [caption id=“attachment_3828367” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] File image of Mayawati. PTI[/caption] “Why such a discriminatory and biased attitude…. Is this the anti-corruption campaign of the Modi government and BJP?,” a party release quoted her as asking. BSP leaders from Chhattisgarh, a state ruled by the BJP, tabled a report at the meeting about a senior minister in the Raman Singh cabinet allegedly taking control of several acres of forest and tribal land. The report also alleged that a resort was being developed on the land by the family members of the minister. “The people there (in Chhattisgarh) are questioning this tolerance of the BJP, despite corruption and illegal encroachment of land by its leader,” the release quoted Mayawati as saying. Citing the “very bad example” of the political developments in the run-up to the Rajya Sabha election in Gujarat, the BSP chief alleged that the Modi government, which had “failed on all fronts”, was now “out to defame the opposition leaders to divert the attention of the people”. “It (the Modi government) is also going all-out to disturb the functioning of the states ruled by the opposition parties,” she said. Mayawati alleged that there was a move to “crush the opposition voice” even in Parliament and added that because of such a “suffocating atmosphere”, she had to resign from the Rajya Sabha on 18 July. “But, the BSP is not going to remain silent against such a discriminatory, biased, autocratic, undemocratic and anti-people attitude (of the government) and will be launching a programme in the country, especially in Uttar Pradesh, to expose it,” she said. The former UP chief minister added that her party would start holding monthly mandal-level “maha-sammelans” (public meetings) in the state from next month and in other states from November, which would be attended by her as the chief guest. At the meeting, reports on the efforts to strengthen the BSP were submitted to Mayawati, who issued necessary directives to the partymen in this regard.