Mayawati rakes up CWG scam, ACB notice to target Sheila Dikshit

Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) president Mayawati on Friday raked up Commonwealth Games scam and Delhi's Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) notice to target Sheila Dikshit, who has been anointed by Congress as its chief ministerial candidate for the 2017 Uttar Pradesh polls.

She said it was worth pondering as to what sort of leadership is being projected by the Congress for UP.

In a press communique here, Mayawati maintained Congress' tactic of wooing the upper caste electorate, especially Brahmins, through Dikshit, would only come a cropper.

Mayawati also took a swipe at the Congress for appointing actor-turned-politician Raj Babbar as UP unit president, and said, by appointing him, who had been associated with several political outfits, reflected the bankruptcy of the grand old party.

"Such appointments would fetch no benefit to Congress in the forthcoming (UP) assembly polls," she underlined and added far from aspiring for power in the state, Congress was not in the contention in the first place.

Mayawati noted the announcement of Sheila as the party's CM candidate was akin to deceiving the already estranged Brahmin voters in UP.

She claimed Brahmins in UP had over the past several years been victims of discrimination and insult, irrespective of the political parties in power, including Congress, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Samajwadi Party.

"At such crucial times, BSP was the only party, which accorded respect to the upper castes, especially Brahmins in the party organisation and even during government formation," Mayawati said, adding the party had in fact re-energised the community by fielding them in polls.

She alleged Dikshit, during her terms as Delhi chief minister, had diverted public welfare budget, especially allotted for dalits, backwards, poor, etc., to non-important heads.