New Delhi: As thousands of Dalit protesters filled the streets of Delhi and Uttar Pradesh (UP) over offensive comments by a Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader against Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) chief Mayawati, the latter on Thursday compared herself to a deity and accused the BJP of taking the matter lightly.
“To the backward classes, I am like a Devi (goddess). They are angry with BJP’s Uttar Pradesh unit vice-president Dayashankar Singh for his derogatory remarks against me. The worst part is that BJP is only paying lip service and not doing enough. I appreciate the fact that BJP has expelled him from the party but they should have lodged a police complaint against him,” Mayawati said in New Delhi on Thursday.
BSP workers protested in Lucknow and Delhi demanding the immediate arrest of Singh. But they called off their agitation after police assured them of Singh’s arrest within the next 36 hours. A police complaint was lodged against Singh by BSP national secretary Mevalal Gautam on Wednesday night.
On Thursday, the UP police conducted raids at many places to trace Singh who on Wednesday had sparked an outrage with his comment, “Mayawati gives tickets for Rs1 crore [Rs10 million] and if there is someone who can give Rs2 crore, then she sells it for Rs2 crore within an hour. If someone is ready to give Rs3 crore by the evening, she gives the ticket to him. She is even worse than a prostitute.”
Later Singh said, “Mayawati is a big leader and came from a small family. I did not want to hurt anyone. I regret the slip of tongue. I never meant to hurt the dignity of anyone.” BJP has already expelled Singh from the party for six years. Reacting to the protests, senior BJP leader and federal minister Venkaiah Naidu said the issue is over and the BJP has already taken action against him.
“This issue is over. We took action against him. Now what else should we do? What he said was completely objectionable. The leader of the House too condemned the statement at the earliest. He was removed from his post, and later on he was suspended also. Let them protest, they keep on protesting; be it Congress or others. The thing is that BJP is moving ahead, and they can’t digest that,” Naidu said.
Nationalist Congress Party leader Praful Patel visits a Dalit man who consumed poison in protest against the assault on members of the community by cow protection vigilantes some days back, at a hospital in Rajkot yesterday. PTI
BJP’s UP unit chief Keshav Prasad Maurya said that the “issue should stop here” after his party took action against Singh.
“His remark was wrong. He was sacked from the party. This issue should stop here and not escalated further. BSP must not make it a political issue. The police would now act against Singh as needed,” Maurya said.
Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley has expressed “personal regret” in the parliament over Singh’s remark.
“It is not right and I condemn the use of this word. And if a person has said this, we will investigate. I express personal regret. I associate with your dignity and stand with you,” Jaitley told Mayawati in the Rajya Sabha (the Upper House of parliament).
In the Lok Sabha (Lower House of parliament), the opposition parties united against the government, accusing it of allowing cow vigilante groups to terrorise Dalits.
“Dalits are being attacked with impunity. The government uses cow activism as a political tool. Why aren’t these cow protection groups banned by the government,” asked Sharad Yadav, a lawmaker of Bihar’s ruling Janata Dal United party.
Left leader Sitaram Yechury said: “Since this government came to power in 2014, new avenues have been opened for attacks on Dalits. This new avenue is cow protection.”
