BSP supremo Mayawati on Friday hit out at the Congress over its proposed "Bharat Dojo Yatra," calling it a "mockery" of those struggling with poverty, and said politicisation of sports was harmful.

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Thursday shared a video of one of the martial arts sessions held at campsites of his east-to-west Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra earlier this year, and said a "Bharat Dojo Yatra" was coming soon.

In a post on X, Mayawati said, "No one denies the importance of Dojo and other sports for people with full stomachs, but what about the crores of families struggling with poverty, unemployment, inflation and backwardness, who are forced to work hard day and night to feed themselves. Isn't 'Bharat Dojo Yatra' a mockery of them?" Dojo broadly refers to a training hall or school for martial arts.

"The central and state governments want to make crores of poor and hardworking people of the country sing 'bhajans' on empty stomachs to cover up their failure to provide them with a proper and respectable livelihood, but how can the public tolerate the same anti-people attitude of the opposition Congress?" she added.

In the same post, the former Uttar Pradesh chief minister said, "The Congress and its INDI Alliance increased their strength by taking votes of SC, ST and OBC in the name of saving reservation and the Constitution, but is it right to forget their hunger and agony and adopt this cruel attitude towards them when their time is over".

"Politicisation of sports is harmful, which cannot be tolerated anymore," she stressed.

Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by The Telegraph Online staff and has been published from a syndicated feed.