"Behenji (Mayawati) aajkal chunaav theek se kyun nahi lad rahi (Why is Mayawati not fighting polls properly these days)," Rahul Gandhi asked a group of Dalit students in Uttar Pradesh on Thursday.
Reacting sharply to the charge, Mayawati, the first Dalit chief minister of UP, accused the Congress of "animosity and casteist attitude" towards her party, the Bahujan Samaj Party or the BSP.
"In the states where Congress is strong or where it has governments, there is animosity and casteist attitude towards BSP and its followers, but in a state like UP where Congress is weak, there is deceptive talk of alliance with BSP, if this is not the double standard of that party then what is it?" Ms Mayawati posted on X.
Rahul Gandhi, who is on a two-day visit to his parliamentary constituency Raebareli, prefaced his remarks by praising the former Chief Minister first, then slipped in a sharp question.
"Ye toh kehna padega ki Kanshi ram ji ne neev rakhi aur Behenji ne kaam kiya, ye toh main bhi manta hoon. Magar ek sawaal hai mera, Behenji aajkal chunaav theek se kyun nahi lad rahi (I must say that Kanshi Ram ji laid the foundation and Behenji carried on the work. I also agree with this. But I have a question. Why is Behenji not fighting the elections properly these days?" Rahul Gandhi, 54, asked Dalit students of 'Mool Bharti' hostel near Bargad Chauraha.
"Hum chahte the Behenji BJP ke virodh main hamare saath lade magar Mayawati ji kisi na kis karan nahi ladi. Hume toh kaafi dukh laga kyunki agar teeno party ek ho jaati toh BJP chunvaav kabhi nahi jeeti (We wanted Behenji to fight with us against BJP but Mayawati ji did not fight for some reason or the other. I felt very sad because if the three parties (including Samajwadi Party) had united, BJP would never have won the election)," Mr Gandhi stressed.
The Congress fought the 2024 Lok Sabha elections in alliance with Akhilesh Yadav's Samajwadi Party, winning six and 37 seats, respectively, cutting into the BJP's seat share. The BSP contested 79 seats and finished with 9.4 per cent of the votes, but won zero seats.
Ms Mayawati, 69, said that whenever the BSP has contested elections in UP and other states in alliance with Congress, her party's base vote has been transferred to them but the same has not been reciprocated.
In such a situation, said Ms Mayawati, the BSP has always had to face losses.
"In any case, the conduct, character, face of the Congress and BJP etc. has always been strongly opposed to Baba Saheb Dr. Bhimrao Ambedkar, his follower BSP and its leadership, his Dalit-Bahujan followers and reservation etc, due to which the country is far behind in achieving the egalitarian and welfare objective of the constitution, which is a matter of concern," said Ms Mayawati.
In a series of posts, she added, "It is a common discussion that this time Congress contested the Delhi Assembly elections as BJP's B team, due to which BJP has come to power here. Otherwise, Congress' condition would not have been so bad in this election that this party could not even save the deposit of most of its candidates."
Advising Mr Gandhi of "looking into his own self" before pointing fingers, Ms Mayawati said, "Also, the new BJP government formed in Delhi has the challenge of fulfilling all the promises made during the elections, especially those related to public welfare and development, on time, otherwise the condition of this party may also become as bad as that of Congress in the future."
