BJP or Modi not giving free ration to poor from their pockets: Mayawati

Chandigarh, May 12 (PTI) Bahujan Samaj Party chief Mayawati on Sunday said the Centre was not giving free ration to the underprivileged from its pocket and asked poor people not to feel obliged to vote for the BJP because of this.

She said for the past some time, the BJP-led Centre has been providing small amounts of ration to the poor families.

“During elections, BJP and RSS people visit every village and tell those poor people who are getting this free ration that BJP and the Narendra Modi government is providing them free ration,” she said addressing an election rally in Haryana's Karnal.

“They ask them to repay the debt by giving their votes to the BJP," Mayawati alleged.

She stressed that the poor people should not get misguided by this "as the free ration being provided is not coming from the pockets of Prime Minister Narendra Modi or BJP, but from the taxpayers' money".

"I want to tell those poor people who are getting free ration, that BJP or Modi is not giving it out from their pockets, but from the taxpayers’ money you are getting free ration," Mayawati said while addressing the rally in support of her party's LS polls nominees from the state.

BSP leader Inder Singh is contesting from Karnal LS seat.

She also stressed that the problems of the poor people will end only by providing them employment, and said that if given a chance her party's government will pay attention to it.

In November last year, the Centre extended the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana scheme to provide 5 kg of free food grains per month to 81.35 crore poor for another five years.

Attacking her political opponents, the BSP president alleged that like the Congress, the BJP too has politicised the central probe agencies.

Calling the voters to stop supporting the Congress, BJP and their allies, she said that these parties will try every means to come to power.

She alleged that opponents are using media, opinion polls and surveys for it and said the same is the case of election manifesto with hollow promises which are mostly not implemented fully by these parties after polls.

"BJP has become a party of the wealthy but has done nothing for the poor, Dalits and backward classes," Mayawati said.

“BJP has given hollow guarantees and it would be difficult for it to retain power at the Centre if the elections are held in a free and fair manner...," she added.

The BSP supremo also claimed that in the country, quota in government jobs for Dalits, tribals and other backward classes has not been filled and that quota in promotions for SCs and STs has almost been made ineffective.

Mayawati, a four-time former chief minister of Uttar Pradesh, claimed that the majority of work is being "handed over to the private sector", and given there is no provision of reservation in the private sector, very little benefit of quotas is reaching these sections in the country.

Seeking support for her party in the elections, she said if BSP gets a chance to form its government at the centre, "unlike the governments of rival parties, we will not do hollow work or push papers but solid work on the ground like what was done when BSP was in power in Uttar Pradesh.

Attacking the BJP, she said, "In these polls, their jumlebaazi (rhetoric) and guarantees are not going to work. They promised the country's poor, weaker sections, middle class and other sections ‘Acche din' (better days) and made tall promises, but guarantees remained only on paper while not even one-fourth work was visible on ground.” During the BJP government, farmers have faced a lot of problems and due to their wrong policies, farmers are always on a path of agitation, she alleged.

"Their economic policies have adversely impacted the small and medium traders," she said.

Like previous governments, under the present BJP government poverty, unemployment and inflation is increasing in the country, she claimed.

Corruption, which had spread in various spheres in the country, has not lessened, said Mayawati.

Congress, BJP and their allies have to be stopped from coming to power at the Centre, she told the gathering.

Voting for all 10 LS seats in Haryana, which is witnessing a multi-cornered contest, will be held in the sixth phase of seven-phase general election on May 25. PTI