Mayawati Says Her Party "Fighting UP Polls With Full Might To Bring Back Achche Din"

Former Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati on Monday said her Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) is contesting the ongoing assembly polls with "full might" in order to usher in 'achche din' of governance in the state like it had done in 2007.

Addressing a public event in Orai in Jalaun district of the Jhansi zone, where elections are scheduled on February 20 in the third phase of the polls, she went all guns blazing against Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Congress and Samajwadi Party (SP) as she pointed out the ills of their regimes in the state.

The BSP chief dubbed Congress as "strongly casteist", BJP as "pro-capitalist" and working for "narrow agendas of RSS" and claimed the SP gave freehand to criminals during its rule in the state.

"Our party is preparing and contesting the polls with full might to once again form a government with full majority so that once again the 'achche din' of BSP governance can come back in the state like it happened in 2007," Mayawati said.

'Achche din' or 'good days' is commonly associated with the BJP, which had widely used the Hindi phrase in run up to the 2014 general elections.

Mayawati said the BSP has given tickets to candidates on the basis of population representation in the region like it has done in the past.

"You all have to understand why it is necessary for you all to vote for the BSP, which works for your welfare, instead of Congress, BJP, SP or other rival parties. Ever since Independence, Congress has had governments at the Centre and in states for a long time but has been pushed out of power due to its wrong policies and work styles," she said.

Mayawati claimed the Congress has been and is still "strongly casteist".

She said the Congress did not even honour Dalit icon Dr BR Ambedkar with the Bharat Ratna despite he being worthy of the highest civilian honour of the country.

She alleged the then Congress-led Centre had not duly recognized the work of BSP ideologue Kanshiram and not declared even a day's mourning at his demise.

"When the Congress is in power and has its 'acche din' then it is not bothered about Dalits, adivasis and other backward communities but does drama about working for them when out of power,” Mayawati alleged.

Further she said criminal elements, goondas and mafia had a freehand under the SP-led government in Uttar Pradesh.

"There had been constant tension in the state and development works were also confined to a particular region during the SP rule. Dalits, adivasis and other backward communities had to especially experience step-brotherly treatment," she claimed.

Mayawati claimed that the BJP has also been casteist, pro-capitalist and worked to implement the "narrow agendas" of the RSS.

"Because of these, development has eluded the people who have been exploited and victimized in the BJP rule. They have also faced social harassment. An atmosphere of tension and hate has been prevalent here in the name of religion," she alleged.

Mayawati's public rally took place even as voting for the second phase of assembly polls in Uttar Pradesh were underway in nine districts in western part of the state.

Elections across 403 assembly seats of Uttar Pradesh are being held in seven phases from February 10 and the results would be announced on March 10.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)