SP against reservations for SC, ST; punish it for scrapping quota in job promotions: Mayawati

BSP chief Mayawati on Thursday said the Samajwadi Party was not in favour of reservations and called on people to punish the party for scrapping the quota in government job promotions in Uttar Pradesh.Addressing an election rally here, Mayawati said the SP has always been against giving reservations to Dalits and tribals.SPs previous Akhilesh Yadav government completely stopped reservation in promotions for government employees belonging to Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes category.

BSP chief Mayawati on Thursday said the Samajwadi Party was not in favour of reservations and called on people to ''punish'' the party for scrapping the quota in government job promotions in Uttar Pradesh.

Addressing an election rally here, Mayawati said the SP has always been against giving reservations to Dalits and tribals.

''SP's previous Akhilesh Yadav government completely stopped reservation in promotions for government employees belonging to Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes category. Now, how he (Akhilesh) is saying that he is in favour of reservation?'' the Bahujan Samaj Party chief said.

In 2012, the SP government had repealed a law on reservations in job promotions after a Supreme Court order upheld a high court verdict on the matter. In 2007, the previous BSP government had decided to implement quota for SCs/STs in recruitment as well as in promotions.

''Voting for a party that has been against giving reservations to Dalits and tribals from the very beginning, also means that you are not punishing such parties in accordance with the Indian Constitution. It is very important to punish them. You should not vote for their candidates in the elections,'' she said.

Accusing the BJP of following ''wrong policies'' just like the Congress, the former UP chief minister said that due to the ''casteist, capitalist and communal policies'' of the party and its allies, the ruling party will not win the Lok Sabha elections if the polls are fair and ''no tampering is done with voting machines''.

''Due to the wrong policies of the BJP government, the country's economy is being adversely affected. Poverty, unemployment and inflation are continuously rising under the BJP government. Corruption has not ended in the country yet,'' she said.

Congress, BJP and their allies should not be allowed to come to power at the Centre, she added.

Mayawati also said that the condition of Muslims and other religious minorities is very bad in the country.

''The Sachar Committee report reveals this. For the last few years, with the BJP and Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh in power at the Centre and most states, their development has almost stopped. Atrocities against them due to Hindutva have also reached a peak,'' she said.

If the BSP gets a chance to form the government at the Centre, it will work for every section of the society by framing policies that benefits all people.