People from weaker sections treat me as goddess: Mayawati

Amid protests in Uttar Pradesh after former BJP leader Daya Shankar Singh's abusive remark against her, Bahujan Samaj Party chief Mayawati said on Thursday that people from the weaker sections treat her as a "goddess".

"People from the weaker sections of society, cutting across party lines, respect me a lot; they treat me as a goddess... and if you say bad things about their goddess, they will feel bad and are bound to protest," Mayawati said.

The former state Chief Minister said she did not ask party workers to protest against Singh's abusive remark.

"I haven't asked anyone to protest. The language used by the (now expelled) BJP leader was so bad that the people from the weaker sections, especially the Dalits, protested on their own. I can't stop them. But I want to assure them that I will continue to fight for their rights", the BSP chief said.

She said the punishment meted out by the Bharatiya Janata Party to Daya Shankar was "not enough" and that the party should have filed a police complaint against him. The BJP Uttar Pradesh unit Vice-President was sacked from all party posts as also expelled from the party for six years.

"Even some BJP leaders did not like the abusive remarks against me made by their own party leader. The party took action against him, but that is not enough. It was a general punishment to control the damage," the BSP leader said.

"I would have appreciated if the BJP leaders themselves had filed a police complaint against him. Then they would have won my heart," she said.

The police on late Wednesday night lodged an FIR against Daya Shankar Singh under the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act.

Daya Shankar Singh said in Mau on Tuesday that the BSP chief was giving party tickets on the basis of money paid to her, and that even a prostitute was better than her.

--IANS

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