Mayawati re-elected party chief; says Congress, Nehru root cause of Kashmir problem

BSP chief Mayawati was on Wednesday unmously re-elected as the national president of the party at a special meeting here in which she said she will not bend or stop in the interest of the movement and attacked Congress for neglecting 'Bahujan Samaj' during its rule.

Supporting the Central government's decision to repeal Article 370, she said that the root cause of Kashmir problem "is, in fact, Congress and Pandit Nehru alone."

She questioned the opposition leaders over their visit to Jammu and Kashmir, saying it will take some time for the situation to improve.

Attacking the Congress, she said the Congress "did not allow" Ambedkar to get elected to parliament and later did not honour him with Bharat Ratna.

She alleged that reservation benefits were not properly implemented and national mourning of even a day was not declared on the death of party veteran Kanshi Ram.

She accused Congress of having "indifferent attitude" towards the poor, Dalits, tribals, backwards and religious minorities. Referring to Muslims, she accused Congress of "neglect and of atrocities" against them.

Mayawati alleged there has been so much "neglect of Bahujan Samaj in the Congress rule that it is impossible to forget it."

Referring to forthcoming assembly polls in Haryana, Maharashtra, Jharkhand, and Delhi, she said that the party should contest the polls with full strength. She said the party has to contest both Congress and BJP and emerge first as "balance of power."

Mayawati said the party also has to show good results in the bypolls in Uttar Pradesh.

The main agenda of the meeting, held at the BSP office here, was the election of party chief in accordance with the party constitution.

After Mayawati's re-election, office-bearers of the party's central executive committee, state leaders and other representatives present at the meeting raised slogans in her favour and wished her good health and long life "so that egalitarian society as dreamt by B R Ambedkar could be built by gaining the master key of power".

Mayawati expressed her gratitude to all people and said she is always ready to make sacrifices for taking forward the BSP movement.

She said she will never "stop or bend let alone break down" in the interest of the party and the movement.

Mayawati referred to great men born from time to time among the Dalits, tribals and other backward classes (OBCs) including Jyotiba Phule, Chhatrapati Shahuji Maharaj, Narayana Guru, and Ambedkar and said she was prepared to make any sacrifice to take the movement forward.

She said the movement has gained pace and it cannot be disrupted by any strategy of adversaries including coercion and inducements.

Mayawati said the BSP will keep advancing on its goal of "sarvajan hitaye and sarvajan sukhaye (progress for all, prosperity for all)" with support of various sections particularly "Bahujan Samaj" and the poor among the upper castes.

Referring to the scrapping of Article 370 in Jammu and Kashmir, Mayawati said that Ambedkar had always been a votary of equality, unity and integrity of the country and was not at all in favour of the separate provision.

"It is for this reason that the BSP has supported the repeal of this article in parliament," she said.

She said it will take some time for the condition to become normal as Article 370 has been repealed after nearly 69 years.

"Therefore, it would be better if we wait for a little for this. Is not the visit of leaders of the Congress and other parties recently to Kashmir without permission a step that would afford an opportunity to the Centre and the governor there to play politics?" she asked.

She welcomed Ladakh being given Union Territory status.

Mayawati said if Congress had scrapped Article 370, "BJP would not have got an opportunity to play politics."

She said expectations of weaker sections, religious minorities, the poor, workers, small farmers, traders, and other toiling masses were linked to the BSP.

Mayawati has been a four-time Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh and a member of both Rajya Sabha and Lok Sabha.

( With inputs from ANI )