Thaindian News

Lucknow, Dec 18 (IANS) Going all out to woo the Muslim, Kshatriya and Vaishya communities, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati Sunday made a fervent appeal to them to vote for her Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) and give her a fifth term as a “birthday gift”.

“My birthday (Jan 15) is just round the corner and unlike the past, we may not be able to celebrate it with the usual pomp and show because there was every possibility that Election Commission would announce dates for the 2012 assembly elections, thereby bringing in the code of conduct by then,” she told a rally here.

“Give me a fifth term this time on my birthday,” she appealed, urging them to remember the party’s new slogan - “Chad vipaksha kee chaati par, button dabao haathi par (Climb onto the chest of the opposition, (by) pressing the button on the elephant (the BSP symbol).”

Reminding each of the three communities of what she has done for them, besides whatever she has up her sleeve for them, her hour-long address had a lot of promises for the Muslims, whom she even promised reservations in government jobs, but with a rider.

“Let the centre go for amending the reservation law to accord reservation to Muslims over and above the existing reservations and BSP will extend its full support to it,” she said, adding she had sought this for some time but no attention was given to her demand.

She sought to remind Muslims of how she had fielded a sizeable number of candidates from the community to ensure that they get adequate representation in the legislature.

Claiming how governments of other political parties failed to prevent harassment of the Muslim youth by being labelled as terrorists, she said that she strictly instructed police not to follow suit.

Alleging that the Congress always betrayed Muslims, she said: “Congress only used Muslims as vote bank and failed to do anything for their larger good or well-being.”

“No one can forget that the maximum number of communal riots took place during Congress regimes in the country and these left a sense of insecurity in the minds of Muslims,” she said, even accusing the party of being soft towards the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Hindu rightwing organisations.

“What happened in Ayodhya on Dec 6, 1992 (demolition of the Babri Mosque) was a direct consequence of such policies,” she said.

She also hit out at her bitter rival, Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav, alleging he had damaged communal harmony in the state.

Mayawati tried to impress upon Muslims how her most trusted lieutenant in the cabinet was none other than Naseemuddin Siddiqui, the BSP’s most prominent Muslim face.

Unlike the past, when she would disallow anybody else to be present with her on the dais, Siddiqui was even asked to address the gathering.

For the Kshatriyas, Mayawati gave out a list of members of the community whom she had accorded special status including making them ministers, while for the Vaishya community, she flourished her credentials as opponent of foreign equity in retail.

“I have made it loud and clear to the central government that we are not going to allow opening of giant multinational retail stores in the state because there is no denying that they would wipe out small traders,” she declared.

Blaming the entire FDI issue on Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, she said: “This ‘yuvraj’ (prince) of the Congress party wants to bring in foreign companies whose aim was to completely destroy small traders, and that is what he proudly calls FDI.”