NEW DELHI: Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Saturday said that the grand old party had reached out to Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) chief Mayawati for an alliance ahead of the 2022 Assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh and even offered her the chief ministerโs post, but she did not respond.
โYou must have seen that Mayawati did not fight the elections. We had sent a message to Mayawati โ โletโs have an alliance, you be the chief ministerโ. She did not even talk,โ he said while speaking at the launch of the book โThe Dalit Truth โ Battles For Realising Ambedkarโs Visionโ, edited by former bureaucrat and his close aide K Raju.
Mayawatiโs BSP put up one of its worst performances in the recently-concluded Assembly elections with just one seat.
The former Congress president said he respect Dalit leaders like Kanshi Ram โa lotโ.
โThey gave blood and sweat to awaken the Dalit voice in Uttar Pradeshโฆ It is another matter that the Congress suffered lossesโฆ but today Mayawati is saying I will not fight for that voice,โ he said.
โShe left the field open. Why? The CBI, ED, Pegasus,โ he said.
He urged Dalits to fight for their rights by treading the path shown by Constitution architect BR Ambedkar and Mahatma Gandhi.
Gandhi said, โWe have to protect the Constitution. To save the Constitution, we have to protect our institutions. But all the institutions are in the hands of the RSS (Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh).โ
Charging the RSS and ruling BJP with attacking institutions of the country, Gandhi said, โThis is not a new assault. It started the day when Mahatma Gandhi was killed by bullets.โ
He reiterated his allegation that โthree-four billionaires, besides the CBI, the ED, and the Pegasus spyware control the political systemโ.
โI am telling you. If I had taken even one rupee, I would not have been able to deliver this speech. I would sit silently in the corner, unable to deliver this speech.โ
He also said that he had no interest in power. โInstead, I try to understand the country. Some politicians are in pursuit of power. They ponder about attaining power throughoutโฆ,โ he said, adding, โI was born at the centre of power but honestly, I donโt have an interest in it.โ
โLook at the condition of the economy today, look at unemployment. So it is time to fight. Ambedkar ji and Gandhi ji had shown the way, which is not easy but needs to be followed,โ he told the audience.
