There is anti-BJP environment across nation, says Mayawati

BSP supremo Mayawati on Thursday said that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has not been able to come to terms with loss in the Uttar Pradesh by elections, adding that an anti-BJP environment is building up across the nation.

She also said that some sections of the media are portraying the BSP in bad light in the wake of Dalit protests over Supreme Court order on SC/ST act.

This comes close on the heels of protests across the country over the Supreme Court's March 20 order on the SC/ST act, which was seen as dilution of the act. There were several instances of violence during the protests by Dalit groups. Mayawati had then condemned the violence and said that Dalits were protesting in a peaceful manner. The BJP had blamed the opposition parties for politicising the Supreme Court's order.

The Court had on 20 March said that on "several occasions", innocent citizens were being named as accused and public servants deterred from performing their duties, which was never the intention of the legislature while enacting the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act. The court had said that unless the exclusion of anticipatory bail is limited to "genuine cases and inapplicable to cases where there is no prima facie case was made out, there will be no protection available to innocent citizens".

The government, in its review petition, told the Supreme Court that its 20 March verdict will violate Article 21 of the Constitution for the SC/ST communities and sought restoration of the provisions of the SC/ST Act.