BSP chief Mayawati goes beyond Dalit-Muslim to woo OBCs in Rajasthan

Going beyond the Dalit-Muslim combination, Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) chief Mayawati on Friday sought the support of the members of the other backward classes (OBCs) and asked them to side with her party to get rid of exploitation and fight against the BJP.

She projected the BJP as an “anti-OBC” party, while claiming that the Mandal Commission’s recommendations were implemented for OBC reservation because of the BSP.

Mayawati said her party had launched an agitation to get the recommendations of the Mandal Commission implemented for the OBC reservation during the Congress government’s rule, while pointing out that the Congress regime had not implemented them and lost the polls in 1989.

Subsequently, the V P Singh government had implemented the recommendations, as per the BSP’s demand, she added.

“The BJP is trying to create an impression in the country that the BSP is against OBC reservation, but the fact is that the BSP played an important role in getting the recommendations of the Mandal Commission implemented for the OBC reservation,” Mayawati said at a meeting here of BSP workers from Rajasthan and Odisha.

She said the concept of reservations was introduced only because of Bhimrao Ambedkar, while alleging that the BJP and certain other parties were trying to put an end to it.

The BSP chief alleged that the major works of important ministries in the central and state governments, especially where the BJP was in power, were being outsourced to private companies.

“There is no reservation in the private sector. The governments are trying to weaken the reservation system in the country. The former NDA government, led by Atal Bihari Vajpayee, had tried to review the Constitution, so that in the name of review, reservation could be abolished. But we had strongly opposed this and hence, it did not happen,” she said.

Mayawati said along with the Dalits, Muslims and other religious minorities and tribals, the members of the OBC communities were also exploited and that they all needed to get united against the BJP.

“All the communities need to stay alert against the BJP, which is carrying out its Hindutva agenda through the RSS,” she said.

The former Uttar Pradesh chief minister said no Dalit, minority or OBC leader of the BJP could do any good for their respective communities, even if they were given any post in the party or made the chief minister, prime minister or president.

“Therefore, all these communities need to unite and come into the BSP-fold, so that they can prosper,” she said.