Thaindian News

New Delhi, June 16 (IANS) Flaying the Congress for graft in the Commonwealth Games, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati said here Thursday that the quantum of money pilfered could have transformed Dalit colonies in and around Delhi.

Addressing a Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) convention at the Talkatora Stadium here, Mayawati said: “I am convinced that the Congress government in the national capital is least interested in the well-being of Dalits, otherwise a fraction of the billions that were pocketed away could have change the lives of the underprivileged.”

“While the Congress party had always been notorious for indulging in rampant corruption, the levels to which its functionaries stooped in the Commonwealth Games has earned the party much disrepute,” she said.

Lamenting the “utter apathy” of the Delhi administration towards the plight of Dalits and other downtrodden castes living in slums, Mayawati said: “The Delhi administration has failed to realise that it were these people who gave their sweat and blood to provide Delhi with a new and modern infrastructure.”

She also referred to the hue and cry raised by both Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) over land acquisition in Noida and Greater Noida.

“Even as both Congress and BJP were busy criticising my government on various issues relating to land acquisition, they had not cared to see how the poor farmers were exploited in the states ruled by the two parties,” the chief minister said.

“While the going rate of agricultural land in the neighbourhood of Delhi was ranging between Rs.3-10 crore per acre, the Delhi government was acquiring the same at a paltry rate of Rs.53 lakh per acre,” she said.

She flayed the Congress for showing least interest in the upliftment of downtrodden classes, including farmers.

“Even though successive Congress governments have been at the helm of the country’s affairs for many decades, its leaders failed to amend a 117-year old archaic land acquisition law,” she said.

She said her government had evolved a pro-active land acquisition policy that had not only substantially raised the level of compensation but also provided several long term annuities and employment.

“In case the UPA (United Progressive Alliance) government fails to table the much awaited land acquisition bill during the monsoon session of parliament, BSP will lay siege around the parliament,” she warned amidst loud applause.