Mayawati says BJP 'panicking', Congress dividing votes

Deoband: BSP supremo Mayawati on Sunday said the BJP is "panicking" and will face a defeat in the Lok Sabha polls, as she addressed the first rally of opposition grand-alliance in Uttar Pradesh, where she also slammed the Congress, saying it does not want the grouping to win and will only divide votes.

Flanked by Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav and Rashtriya Lok Dal's Ajit Singh, Mayawati said the Congress and the BJP had ruled the country for a majority of the period post-Independence, but they followed "wrong" policies.

"The Congress has failed, despite ruling for so many years. In the Congress-ruled states, wrongful practices came to notice...so they eventually lost their voter base," she claimed.

For the BJP, she said, it failed to fulfil it promises and, therefore, it "will keep advertising its hawa-hawai (lofty) schemes till the poll results are announced".

Mayawati said, "Removing Modi is not enough, (UP CM) Yogi (Adityanath) also needs to be shown the door."

Accusing the BJP-led NDA government of creating more rifts in the society than the British during colonial rule, Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav Sunday said this time; the Lok Sabha elections are to bring a "mahaparivartan".

Referring to the 2014 parliamentary election, the Samajwadi Party chief said, "He (Modi) came as a chaiwallah (tea-seller), and we all believed (him) for the sake of 'achche din' and crores of jobs. But now, when elections have come again, they say they are chowkidar (watchmen)."

"This time, we all will together snatch the 'chowki' (seat) of every single chowkidar," he said.

RLD chief Ajit Singh took a swipe at the BJP's "achche din" promise on Sunday, saying the good days were not meant for the people of the country but for Prime Minister Narendra Modi himself.

"The BJP will not just be defeated but will be wiped out," he said, adding that the Constitution had given the right to the people of the country to evaluate the performance of a government and, if not satisfied, change it in five years.