Mayawati on Monday said voters should be cautious of BJP and RSS workers, who she said were misleading them by saying Prime Minister Narendra Modi provides them foodgrains.
“I know that some members of the government carry a bag on their shoulders and roam from village to village. They say (Narendra) Modi gives you pulses, rice and salt free of cost. Then they say that you should respect the salt and return the favour with votes. They ask you to be namak halal (faithful),” the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) president said during an election rally in Uttar Pradesh’s Pilibhit on Monday.
“You must remember that it is not Modi’s money. You had given this money to the government in the form of taxes. It is your money. Be careful of these BJP-RSS workers,” Mayawati said, adding that the Modi government claims it is providing free foodgrains to the poor across the country.
“Giving some foodgrains will not solve your problems permanently. Employment is important for you,” she said.
Dubbing the Modi government as a one run by the BJP as well as the RSS, Mayawati said it was misusing the central investigating agencies against the Opposition.
“It is not an honest government. In 2014, the BJP had said it would give Rs 25 lakh to every Indian. But you didn’t even get Rs 1 lakh. You shouldn’t trust them,” she said.
“It is a casteist and communal government. But people are cautious this time. It (the BJP) will not return to power this time if free and fair elections are conducted and if the voting machines are not manipulated,” she said, adding that this time, the BJP has a new ploy of giving “guarantee” of everything.
Referring to Modi’s election speeches where he is often heard saying that it is his guarantee that the country would develop under him as Prime Minister, Mayawati said: “He (Modi) had promised achchhe din (good days) in the past too. But it never arrived.”
Varun Gandhi had won the Pilibhit seat in 2019 on a BJP ticket but he was denied one this election apparently because of his criticism of some of Modi’s policies. Pilibhit goes to the polls on April 19.
