BJP was not happy when Ambedkar got Bharat Ratna: Mayawati

Lucknow, April 14: On the birth anniversary of B R Ambedkar, BSP chief Mayawati today attacked BJP leaders saying when polls come they see Dalits as Hindus but later they do not even like to sit with them, and the party was not happy when the architect of the Constitution got Bharat Ratna.

Her attack on BJP came soon after the party's prime minister nominee Narendra Modi raked up Ambedkar to slam Congress. "BJP had not liked it then -- Bharat Ratna to Ambedkar-- and using the Advani's 'rath yatra' as an excuse it (BJP) withdrew support to VP Singh government," Mayawati said adding that Modi was moving about making "false" claims on the issue.

She also alleged that BJP was an elitist party. "When elections come they see Dalits as Hindus but later they do not like even to sit with them... BJP people believe in caste and discrimination even today," she said adding that BJP, Congress and SP who opposed her erecting statues in the memory of Ambedkar recall him at election time and later forget him.

Mayawati also said that it was BSP because of whose pressure Bharat Ratna was accorded to Ambedkar in 1990 when VP Singh was the prime minister. When Mandal Commission was implemented and Bharat Ratna was accorded on Ambedkar during VP Singh's tenure, the BJP was not happy, she claimed.

"And hiding behind the excuse of obstruction of the Advani's 'rath yatra', the party withdrew support from the VP Singh government," she said.

The BSP supremo said that Dalits and backwards will not be "misguided" as they want that the girl of their caste becomes the prime minister of the country. Launching a no-holds barred attack on Modi, Mayawati said she had doubts about him being a person of backward class.

"He (Modi) has never told which backward caste he belongs too," the former chief minister told reporters here. She also attacked Modi over his "knowledge of history".

"Modi is a strange man. He says something and does something else. He does not have the knowledge of history and gives wrong statistics," Mayawati said.

PTI