Congress' appointments are shots in dark, sure to miss target: BSP

Lucknow, Jul 15: BSP today took a dig at Congress over appointment of actor-turned politician Raj Babbar as UPCC chief and naming of Sheila Dikshit as its chief ministerial candidate for next year's Uttar Pradesh Assembly polls, saying these were "shots in the dark" which "are sure to miss the target".

"Appointing party-hopper Raj Babbar as UPCC chief and Sheila Dikshit as Congress' chief ministerial candidate are shots in the dark and sure to miss the target," BSP supremo Mayawati said in a release.

Asserting that Congress is "nowhere near power" and all this is just to "hoodwink" people, she claimed, this is an attempt by Congress not only to hoodwink Brahmin voters but also the 'sarva samaj' (all sections of the society) and the move is not going to impress the voters.

"Dikshit, who has spent most of her political life in Delhi and is facing probes in several corruption cases, has been projected as the CM candidate to appease the Brahmins who are not happy with the party," Mayawati claimed.

Alleging that not only Congress but also BJP and Samajwadi Party have neglected the Brahmins, she claimed only BSP has given due respect to the upper castes, especially Brahmins in the organisation and government.

She further claimed Brahmins rely more on BSP leadership which follows the principle of "sarvajan hitay, sarvajan sukhay" more than any other party and it is totally clear that the interest of Brahmins and "sarv samaj" are fully safe in the hands of her party.

Alleging that the former chief minister of Delhi had diverted funds earmarked for schemes meant for welfare of Dalits, backwards and poor, Mayawati asked what benefit can such a leader, who also faces corruption charges, do to the people.

The BSP chief also accused the BJP government in Gujarat of being anti-Dalit over an incident in which seven members of a Dalit family were allegedly beaten up by some persons for skinning a dead cow in Una town of Gir Somnath district. "The sordid incident vindicated BSP's stand that ever since the formation of BJP government at the Centre, atrocities on Dalits, backwards and religious minorities especially Muslims have increased manifold," Mayawati said.

PTI