'Oppn has anti-dalit mentality'

LUCKNOW: Accusing the opposition of harbouring anti-dalit mentality, the Bahujan Samaj party (BSP) on Saturday came out in support of party chief Mayawati, who is facing condemnation from all quarters for installing her statues in memorials built for dalit icons. Congress leader Digvijay Singh has even termed Maya a megalomaniac.
However, the BSP in an official statement said the statues of Uttar Pradesh chief minister and party national president Mayawati have been installed along with other dalit icons in accordance with the will of the BSP founder late Kanshi Ram.
"Dalit messiah and BSP founder Kanshi Ram had written in his will that after his death, his mortal remains, instead of flowing into Ganga or Yamuna rivers, should be kept in a memorials (dalit prerna sthals) built to inspire and motivate dalits.
In the same will, Kanshi Ram has also written that his political heir Mayawati's statute should also be installed along his statutes in the memorials.
Hence, all dalit memorials with statutes of Kanshi Ram also have statues of Mayawati," the Bahujan Samaj Party stated while replying to the accusations of opposition parties that UP chief minister is wasting public money to install her statues.
Repeating allegations which Mayawati levelled against other political parties in her speech after inaugurating the Dalit Prerna Sthal and Green Garden in Noida on Friday, the BSP said had other political parties who have been in power after Independence built memorials of dalit icons, there would have been no need of BSP to take up the cause.
The party said those opposing memorials suffer from anti-dalit mentality. It also said that the money spent on memorials is less than 1% of the total budget of UP.
Further, the party said, the revenue generated trough sale of tickets in memorials will be used for their maintenance and welfare of dalits.