Mayawati ''spreading'' falsehood to gain political mileage: Cong

New Delhi, Feb 27 (UNI) In what could be seen as a sign of ''discomfort'' among the ranks of the Delhi Congress over the Bahujan Samaj Party's rally recently, a host of Dalit leaders of the party today castigated Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati for spreading ''falsehood'' to gain political mileage.

Addressing a press conference at the Delhi Pradesh Congress Committee office here, the Congress leaders, led by DPCC president Jai Prakash Agarwal, strongly condemned the charges made by BSP supremo Mayawati at the party's rally at Ramlila Maidan on Sunday and termed it as intended to rouse communal and casteist feelings.

''The charges made by Ms Mayawati do not befit the Chief Minister of the largest state of the country,'' Mr Agarwal told at the press meet, attended by a host of Dalit leaders from the party.

The leaders included DPCC spokesperson rishna Tirath, and MLAs Charan Singh Khandera, Veer Singh Dhingan, Malaram Gangwal, Amrish Gautam and Rajesh Lilothia.

Charging the BSP supremo with going away from the principles of the party founder, the late Kanshi Ram, he said, ''Under Ms Mayawati, the BSP has forsaken the principles of Kanshi Ram and Dr Bhim Rao Ambedkar.'' ''She is now playing politics only for her personal benefits and has driven the people who supported her into disappointment and desparation.'' Deriding Ms Mayawati's claims of her rally being successful, Congress MLA Jaikishen alleged that the huge turnout at the rally was a result of her ''pressuring'' party managers to bring truckloads of people.

''By pressurising officials, hundreds of people were ferried in buses to show that the rally is a huge success,'' Mr Jaikishen said.

Terming the allegations by Ms Mayawati as aimed at deriving political mileage, Congress MP Krishna Tirath said, ''The BSP supremo wants to remain in headlines all the time.'' Denying that the press conference was a direct result of the party's discomfort over the possibility of the BSP making inroads into the party's vote bank in the forthcoming Assembly polls, Mr Agarwal said,''The seven per cent vote share claim by the BSP will not make a difference to our fortunes in the elections. The MCD format is different from that of the Delhi Legislative Assembly.'' Meanwhile, the DPCC president welcomed the Railway Budget presented by Railway Minister Lalu Prasad and termed it ''people friendly'' .

''The Railway Minister should be complemented for giving so many concessions to rail travellers,'' Mr Agarwal added.

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