No more monuments to build, will focus on governance if elected to power: Mayawati

BSP president Mayawati on Tuesday assured that her government will not spend its efforts on building memorials and erecting statues if it comes to power, but will focus on changing the face of Uttar Pradesh.

Mayawati, who has been accused in the past of focusing on memorials including those featuring her statues, made the assurance at a meeting aimed at wooing the Brahmin community, ahead of next year's assembly elections.

The meeting at the party's headquarters here marked the end of a month-long series of the BSP's ''prabhudh varg sammelans'', where she assured that the community will be treated right if her Bahujan Samaj Party forms the government in 2022.

She said the four BSPs governments have honoured leaders, who worked for equality, through memorials, museums and statues and now there is no need of constructing more of them.

''Whatever needed to be done, I have done it in bulk,'' she said, adding that only their maintenance will be looked into.

''Now when a BSP-led government is formed, my efforts will not go into building memorials, parks and statues. My whole energy will go into changing the face of Uttar Pradesh so that the entire country and world can say that the BSP chief has changed the face of the state,'' Mayawati said.

She added that her government will be open to honouring leaders from ''other communities'', if they want, and keep their religious sentiments in mind.

The former chief minister gave a call for forging strong unity among Dalits and Brahmins so that the results of 2007 could be repeated, when the party had formed a government of its own in Uttar Pradesh.

In the presence of a large number of party workers and supporters, the BSP chief explained that the seers and great men, in whose names she had set up parks and memorials during her earlier governments, were not against any particular religion or caste but were against the social system based on inequality.

''On the path shown by them, the BSP is working towards having a society based on equality and therefore, our party does not belong to any particular caste or community but is of the sarv samaj,'' she asserted. In a clear shift from the BSP conventions of the past, a sizeable number of people in saffron robes were present here, blowing conch shells and chanting hymns, before the start of Mayawati's speech. This indicated the party's all out efforts to win their support for gaining clear majority in the 2022 elections.

She was presented a trishul and a statue of Lord Ganesh on the dias. She promised that after coming to power, the BSP will work for the security, honour and development of Brahmins. They would be taken care of and not disappointed in any way, along with other sections of society, like it was done during its government in 2007, Mayawati said.

She also said that her government did ''historic'' work for Brahmins and never allowed any kind of exploitation. She said they were given proper representation in ticket allocation and ministerial positions.

''Our sisters have not been able to move out after sunset, both under the present BJP as well as the previous SP government, even if they make any claim or resort to any tactic to prove it,'' she said, adding that a sponsored programme was underway that claimed women were safe under the present government.

Mayawati accused the BJP and the Samajwadi Party of only making lofty promises and not doing anything on the ground for Dalits, Brahmins and other sections of the society.

She asserted that unlike them, the BSP does not differentiate between its ''kathni aur karni'' (words and deeds) for development and welfare of Dalits and Brahmins and said this can be testified by its track record during the party's previous government from 2007-12.

The BSP chief took potshots at the SP and Congress, saying they took Muslims votes and ruined people, and she appealed to them not to forget Meerut and Muzaffarnagar riots when the grand old party was in power at the Centre.

Referring to RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat's statement that both Hindus and Muslims have the same ancestors, the BSP president asked why the RSS and BJP have adopted a step-motherly approach towards Muslims.

Mayawati appealed to people to connect with the BSP for a better future of their families by taking inspiration from Dalits who have stood by it despite allurements from other parties.

Thanking the team of party general secretary S C Misra who successfully held a series of conventions in the first phase, Mayawati said that he made all out efforts to create a section among Brahmins who, like the Dalits, do not get swayed by allurements or promises.

''Now those among Brahmins are also saying that when compared to other governments, the BSP was better in every respect but we committed a mistake by helping the BJP form government by falling to their allurements,'' the former CM claimed. Taking potshots at the SP government, which succeeded her in 2012, Mayawati alleged that because of its casteist mentality, Brahmins, along with the sarv samaj, were exploited and fell prey to the BJP's promises while trying to get rid of the SP.

Addressing the convention, Misra, who kicked off ''prabudh varg sammelans'' from Ayodhya on July 23, said despite massive allocation of funds, no development work has been done there.

Attacking the BJP, he said it takes the name of Lord Ram but not of Goddess Sita or Parvati and this shows its anti-women mentality.