By IANS
Mumbai : Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister and Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) chief Mayawati Sunday declared her party’s intention to capture power in the centre with the aim of improving the lot of the poor, minorities and weaker sections of society.
An estimated 300,000 people thronged at the Shivaji Park to hear Mayawati, who was addressing a rally for the first time outside Uttar Pradesh since her surprise victory in that state in May.
Amid periodic applause, Mayawati trained guns at all other major parties including the Congress, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and their allies, saying they always came to power with the support of industrialists.
“After coming to power, they simply forget the poor, the backward sections, minorities and the downtrodden of society who continue to suffer in their misery,” Mayawati said.
In the past 60 years, while the rich became richer, poverty and other social evils afflicting the silent masses have not yet been eradicated, she said.
The time for change has come and people have the option of voting the BSP to power in the states and at the centre, she said, urging all backward sections to unite – a hint at the divided Dalit factions in Maharashtra.
She appealed all to wholeheartedly support the BSP in its quest to provide social justice to the poor and the downtrodden, irrespective of caste, community, religion or social hierarchy.
“We shall not enrich the rich and affluent, but serve to bring a smile to the poorest of the poor in the remotest corners of India,” she said to loud cheers from the enthusiastic gathering which waited in the blazing sun for nearly four hours to hear her.
Mayawati also assured that BSP was not against the upper castes since it would not be possible to achieve total social justice without their support and backing. Hitting out at the Congress for labelling BSP as “anti-upper castes”, she asked why it supported the BSP in the past Uttar Pradesh elections if that was the case.
She claimed that the Congress was apprehensive of the challenges posed by the BSP even in Maharashtra – where it is leading the ruling coalition – during the past few years. According to her, that was why just before the last assembly elections in 2004, the Congress replaced Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh with Sushilkumar Shinde, a Dalit leader.
She assured that when BSP would come to power in Maharashtra, it would appoint a suitable person as chief minister, irrespective of whether the caste factor.
However, she carefully avoided making any reference to the prickly case of rape and massacre of Dalits in Khairlanji by an upper caste mob in September 2006.
Commenting on unemployment in the country, Mayawati assured that if BSP was voted to power at the centre, she would implement reservations in the private sector. “In Uttar Pradesh, we have not only filled up all reserved posts lying vacant for years, but are also implementing reservations in the private sector.”
The BSP state unit had made hectic preparations for the rally over the past few weeks. An estimated 2,000 trucks and tempos had ferried party activists from all over Maharashtra and some had even come down from the neighbouring states like Gujarat and Karnataka.
The BSP also issued full-page advertisements in newspapers here inviting people for the “historic” rally. All major roads, railways stations, prominent buildings sported the BSP’s election symbol – elephant and party flags.
State BSP leaders including president Vilas Garud were actively involved in making all-out efforts to ensure success of the Mayawati Grand Rally, as it was named.
The state police had made elaborate security arrangements in and around the venue where thousands of activists had started converging since Saturday.
Heavy security was also evident on the road leading from the Shivaji Park in central Mumbai to the Hotel Taj Mahal where she stayed overnight after arriving here Saturday afternoon.