Congress MP Rahul Gandhi, on Tuesday, launched a frontal attack on UP chief minister Mayawati when he questioned her credentials as a dalit leader and also her commitment to fight against corruption.
Speaking at a public meeting in Lakhimpur, Mr Gandhi said that Mayawati claimed to be a Dalit leader but she had not taken the trouble of visiting the drought-hit Bundelkhand where the maximum number of victims were Dallies’.
“When I went to Bundelkhand area the people wanted to know why their chief minister had not even bothered to pay them a visit. I told them that if you think she is your leader, you should question her absence.”
“Finally, I took a delegation of people from Bundelkhand to the Prime Minister who sent a package of `3000 for the region within two days. But the money never reached the region because the magic elephant ate it up in Lucknow. Whenever we send money for the poor people, the elephant eats it up,” he said.
This is the first time that the Congress has launched a direct attack on Ms Mayawati and this indicates that the war between Congress and BSP is all set to intensify in the coming days.
Mr Gandhi also indicated that Ms Mayawati was the main beneficiary of the National Rural Health Mission (NRHM) in the state.
“When we sent money for health schemes, Mayawati divided the health ministry into two and posted her trusted man Babu Singh Kushwaha to loot the money. Now that Kushwaha has finished his task, he has fallen out of favor and is running around in Delhi and crying for help,” he said.
The Congress MP made it clear that he was not here merely to win elections but wanted to change Uttar Pradesh.