BJP, Congress are 'birds of the same feather', says Mayawati

Bahujan Samaj Party chief Mayawati on Wednesday said the BJP terming the Congress' Nyunatam Aay Yojana (Nyay) scheme a bluff is true but added that the two parties are "birds of the same feather."

"Ruling BJP calling Congress slogan of Garibi Hatao 2.0 as bluff is true. But is poll bluff & reneging of poll promises the sole domain of the BJP? In fact BJP & Congress party are both birds of the same feather in betraying the interests of the poor, labourers, farmers & others," she tweeted.

This comes two days after Finance Minister Arun Jaitley claimed Congress President Rahul Gandhi's Nyaya scheme, which provided income support of Rs 72,000 per annum to the poorest 20 per cent families of the country, was a "bluff announcement".

"The amount promised by the Congress is less than two-thirds of the existing Direct Benefit Transfer under Modi government, which averages Rs 1.068 lakh annually. So what is being claimed by the Congress Party - a bluff announcement," Jaitley said in a Facebook post.

Meanwhile, Samajwadi Party (SP) chief Akhilesh Yadav launched a scathing attack at the BJP for sidelining its two veteran leaders LK Advani and Murli Manohar Joshi from the ensuing the Lok Sabha polls.

"Development is asking: Those who have shown doors to Margdarshan Mandal are talking of what culture, trick and character. The fake morality of the BJP has been busted. Already, the youth were not voting for the BJP, now the elderly will also not vote for the party. The BJP is broken from inside," he wrote on Twitter.

Both Advani and Joshi have also not made to the list of parliamentary candidates announced so far. Also, both have not made it to BJP's list of 40 leaders who will be campaigning for the party's candidates during the first two phases of general elections in Uttar Pradesh.

Advani was replaced by BJP president Amit Shah from the Gandhinagar Lok Sabha constituency while Joshi was replaced by Satyadev Pachauri from Kanpur parliamentary constituency.

The Lok Sabha polls are scheduled to be held from April 11 and will go on till May 19 in seven phases. The polls in Uttar Pradesh will be held in all seven phases starting from April 11 to May 19. The counting of votes will take place on May 23.