Army should be felicitated for strikes not ministers: Mayawati

Alleging that BJP was trying to take "political mileage" out of the surgical strikes across the LoC, BSP chief Mayawati today said only the Army should be felicitated for its action and not the Defence Minister or the Prime Minister.
"BJP's attempt to take political mileage out of the surgical strikes ahead of the Uttar Pradesh Assembly polls should be condemned. Only the Army should be felicitated and hailed for it not any leader, the Defence Minister or the Prime Minister," Mayawati said.
She said the BJP leadership's reported directive to its leaders and ministers not to issue statements on the surgical strikes seem to have fallen on deaf ears.

"Against the instruction, hoardings, posters and statments of BJP leaders are being used to take political gain out the of force's action. This is happening when the situation on the border is tense and terrorists are continuing their attacks. The Centre and BJP should avoid such propaganda for political gains," the BSP supremo said.
"People's apprehensions that the BJP government headed by Narendra Modi will promote hatred, orchestrate communal riots and rake up the India-Pakistan issue ahead of the UP Assembly polls to turn the tide in its favour are proving true. It did the same before the 2014 Lok Sabha polls," she alleged.

Mayawati alleged that BJP had started Parivartan Yatras

to hide the shortcomings of the central government and its failure to fulfil even one-third of its poll promises. They are going about saying that no development took place during BSP rule which is baseless, she claimed.
BSP, during all its four times in power, did not help capitalists like BJP but worked for 'Sarv Samaj' (all the society), she said, citing various projects undertaken by her government.
Mayawati said the works started by her government were either stopped altogether by the present SP government or renamed but they did not have the same momentum.

Hitting out at Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav, she said, "The head of the SP government should find some time out of his family oneupmanship and fight for survival and mend the dismal law and order of the state as well as the bad state of environment in the districts adjoining national capital..."
To questions, she said any move by SP to enter into a grand alliance proved that it had already accepted defeat.
"In these elections, the camps of Akhilesh and Shivpal will ensure the defeat of each other. Everyone, especially Muslims, have come to know about it and the amount of drama," she said, adding that had SP really worked and taken care of the law and order, they would not have to rely on others.

Mayawati exuded confidence that her party will get absolute majority in the coming polls and ruled out any alliance, saying, "Only the weak look for support.