"Akhilesh Yadav Double-Faced": Mayawati Heaps Praises On Yogi Adityanath

Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) chief Mayawati on Thursday expressed gratitude to the Yogi Adityanath-led Uttar Pradesh government but accused the Samajwadi Party (SP) of acting "double-faced" over the issue of maintenance of institutions and Dalit memorials built under her government. 

Addressing a rally on the 19th death anniversary of BSP founder Kanshi Ram in Lucknow, Mayawati hailed Chief Minister Adityanath for keeping his promise to maintain such parks and other memorials. The SP, she claimed, remembers to carry out such tasks only when it is 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, as she thanked Chief Minister Adityanath.

Hitting out at the SP for allegedly allowing Dalit memorials and parks to decay out of neglect, the former chief minister said: "They did not spend a single rupee on their upkeep. They even kept the revenue collected from the tickets. But now, when they are out of power, they make headlines by saying they will organise seminars in honour of Kanshi Ram ji." 

She added: "We named universities and institutions after Kanshi Ram ji and other great leaders and started many welfare schemes, but the SP government shut all of them down. If this is not a double character, then what is it?" 

She also attacked SP president Akhilesh Yadav, saying if he truly respected the BSP founder, he would not have changed the name of Kanshiram Nagar district in the Aligarh Division back to Kasganj.

The BSP chief accused the SP of co-opting Dalit icons in its "quest for power". "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.

PDA refers to "Pichde, Dalit, Alpsankhya", which translates to "Backward, Dalit and Minority". 

Yadav hit back at Mayawati and her party over their alleged "internal collusion" with the ruling party. "Because 'their' internal collusion continues, that is why they are grateful to their oppressors," he said, without naming anyone.