TIL Desk/National/UP/ BSP chief Mayawati on Sunday accused the BJP of trying to convert India into a “Hindu Rashtra” and said Prime Minister Narendra Modi had failed to fulfil his election promises. Addressing a huge rally here, the four-time Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister also accused the government of doing “natakbaji” over the army’s surgical strike on terrorist launch pads on Pakistani territory.
The Sunday event was called to mark the 10th death anniversary of BSP founder and her mentor Kanshi Ram and comes ahead of assembly elections in the state early next year. A stampede during the rally left two aged women dead and a dozen others injured, one of them critically, police sources said. Calling for Dalit-Muslim unity in the country’s most populous state, Mayawati accused the Bharatiya Janata Party of trying to convert the country into a “Hindu Rashtra”.
If Dalits and Muslims come together, it would be enough to defeat the BJP in the state, she thundered. Accusing the BJP of spreading communal poison, she said Dalits were also being targeted in the name of cow protection. Crimes against minorities had shot up during Modi’s rule. Mayawati was particularly harsh on the Prime Minister, accusing him of “busy converting black money into white”. Modi, she said, had done nothing but “fool” the people since taking power in May 2014.
