Mayawati hits out at Narendra Modi, dares him to reveal his caste

Lucknow, 06 May 2014 (TOI): Accusing BJP’s prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi of playing caste card for electoral gains by distorting Priyanka Gandhi’s remark on ’neechee rajniti’ (dirty politics) into ’neechee jati’ (lowly caste), BSP chief Mayawati on Tuesday challenged him to reveal his caste and spell out that as the chief minister of Gujarat what has he done for backward castes in his state.

 

"Priyanka Gandhi had accused Modi of stooping to ’neechee rajiniti’ but on Tuesday in his speeches in the election meeting he distorted it and presented before people of being targeted by Congress because he belongs to neechee jati. I was expecting Congress to react and put things in right perspective but the party seems to have surrendered knowing that it is losing elections. SP which claims itself to be representative of backward classes has also not reacted for the reasons unknown. So, I took the responsibility to make people aware of how Modi is taking them for a ride by playing backward caste card and dirty politics (ghinauni rajniti)," said Mayawati in a scathing attack on BJP’s PM nominee at a press conference here.

 

Mayawati said that her feedback is that there is no Modi wave and BJP is losing in UP. As a result, in desperation, Modi is distorting facts and playing caste cards for electoral gains in the last two phases of the Lok Sabha elections in UP, he added. "Modi has been saying that he belongs to backward caste and is being targeted for it. I had asked earlier also and now demanding again that Modi should tell people to which caste he belongs. Is he a Barber, Pal, Kushwaha, Rajbhar, Lonia-Chauhan? Or, he is not an OBC at all," She questioned.

 

Maya, further said, even if for argument sake, it is presumed that Modi belongs to OBC, the BJP must tell the people what as chief minister of Gujarat, Modi has done for the backward classes and what BJP did during its six year rule at the Centre. Mayawati also said that if Modi was so concerned about backward classes, why he has not condemned or distanced himself from Baba Ramdev Yadav who made a vulgar remark on dalit women.

 

Expressing confidence that backward classes would not be swayed by Modi’s ’bundle of lies’, Mayawati said Modi says that he would go back and sell tea, as he did in the childhood, if loses in elections, whereas the fact is that he is Gujarat’s CM who wants to become PM but if he fails, he will continue to be CM.