The Hindu : National : Varun sowing hatred, says Mayawati

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Thursday, May 07, 2009
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Varun sowing hatred, says Mayawati

Atiq Khan

LUCKNOW: Bahujan Samaj Party president and Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati on Wednesday accused the Bharatiya Janata Party’s Pilibhit candidate, Varun Gandhi, of sowing hatred and creating communal discord.

Before claiming to promote nationalism, the BJP nominee should understand the spirit of the Constitution. “Nationalism means equality for all, but I found no such virtue in this new age Gandhi,” she told an election rally held in Pilibhit in support of BSP candidate Ganga Charan Rajput.

Ms. Mayawati simultaneously took on his mother, Maneka Gandhi, now representing Pilibhit, for “promoting relatives and ignoring Dalits and weaker sections during her tenure as Social Justice and Empowerment Minister in the NDA regime.

Had Ms. Maneka Gandhi taught her son some values he would not have been sent to jail under the National Security Act for making hate speeches, Ms. Mayawati said.

The Chief Minister said that for the BJP candidate to be defeated, Muslims should guard against a division of their votes.

“If the Muslim vote remained intact, the BJP would lose as “the Dalits, backward castes, Punjabis, Sikhs and the forward castes are voting for the BSP.” But Samajwadi Party president Mulayam Singh, by fielding a Muslim (Riyaz Ahmed) in Pilibhit, wanted to ensure the victory of the BJP candidate, Ms. Mayawati alleged.

The BSP president blamed the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance government for the ills plaguing the country.

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