BSP supremo Mayawati on Sunday described the Election Commission’s order to cover her statues and those of her party’s election symbol, the elephant, as “casteist and anti-Dalit”. Accusing the EC of buckling under pressure from the Congress, she said following its constitutional responsibility with honesty, the EC should have issued directives to get Congress’ poll symbol and RLD’s symbol ‘handpump’ covered like the statues of elephant.
“If the EC does not take right decisions regarding symbols of these two parties, then the people will consider this decision (with regard to BSP) taken with an anti-Dalit and casteist mentality and under pressure from the Congress-led government at the Centre,” Mayawati said at a press conference convened on the occasion of her 56th birthday on Sunday.
“The members of Sarwasamaj related to the movement of the BSP and many intellectuals believe that it was a wrong decision. They hold that the EC should refrain from adopting such casteist and anti-Dalit posture,” she added. In a lighter vein, she commented that the EC’s order helped her party by providing publicity. “The EC has saved several crores of rupees of the BSP by publicising me and the elephant, election symbol of the party,” she said.
Full Article: Mayawati slams Election Commission as casteist, anti-Dalit : Uttar Pradesh News – India Today.