SP, BSP hand-in-glove in exploiting Dalits: Keshav Prasad Maurya

Accusing the ruling Samajwadi Party (SP) in Uttar Pradesh and the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) of "using the Dalits as a votebank", state BJP chief Keshav Prasad Maurya claimed on Sunday that the saffron party was serious about putting an end to their exploitation and working for their betterment.

He alleged that the SP and the BSP were "hand-in-glove" in exploiting the Dalits with the former "unleashing atrocities" on them and the latter "cashing in on their sentiments" by projecting itself as the "messiah" for the community which would heal their wounds if it came to power in Uttar Pradesh.

He reaffirmed that the BJP was genuinely concerned for the welfare of the Dalits and urged them "not to get misled" by the SP and the BSP.

Concluding the 'Tiranga Yatra' of the BJP here, Maurya, along with senior leader Om Mathur and the party's state secretary Pankaj Singh, accused the SP government of "involvement in corruption and loot".

The state BJP chief claimed that months before the monsoon, the Uttar Pradesh government, in a pre-planned move, started working on the Varuna and Gomti riverfront development projects and spent crores on it, but the entire money was "washed away by the rain waters".

Maurya demanded a probe into this to ascertain how much money was wasted and raised a question as regards who would be held accountable for the failure of these projects.

He announced that BJP workers will stage a protest at the Uttar Pradesh Assembly on Wednesday against the "anti-people" policies of the SP government and the failure of law-and-order in the state.