"Casteist, double standard": Mayawati hits back after Rahul Gandhi's "fight election together' remark

Lucknow (Uttar Pradesh) [India], February 20 (ANI): Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) supremo Mayawati hit back at Lok Sabha Leader of Opposition and Congress MP Rahul Gandhi after he expressed his intention to fight the elections with her party. Mayawati accused Congress followers in Congress-ruled states of exhibiting 'animosity' and a 'casteist' attitude towards the BSP.
In a series of posts on X in Hindi, Mayawati raised questions on the 'double standards' of Congress, saying, "In the states where Congress is strong or where it has governments, there is animosity and casteist attitude towards BSP and its followers, but in a state like UP where Congress is weak, there is deceptive talk of alliance with BSP; if this is not the double standard of that party, then what is it?"

1. कांग्रेस पार्टी जिन राज्यों में मजबूत है या जहाँ उनकी सरकारें हैं वहाँ बीएसपी व उनके अनुयाइयों के साथ द्वेष व जातिवादी रवैया है, किन्तु यूपी जैसे राज्य में जहाँ कांग्रेस कमजोर है वहाँ बीएसपी से गठबंधन की वरग़लाने वाली बातें करना यह उस पार्टी का दोहरा चरित्र नहीं तो और क्या है?

— Mayawati (@Mayawati) February 20, 2025

The former Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister further said that the BSP has always had to face losses when it contested elections in alliance with 'casteist' parties like Congress.
"However, whenever BSP has contested elections in UP and other states in alliance with casteist parties like Congress, our base vote has been transferred to them but those parties have not been able to transfer their base vote to BSP. In such a situation, BSP has always had to face losses," she stated.

2. फिर भी बीएसपी ने यूपी व अन्य राज्यों में जब भी कांग्रेस जैसी जातिवादी पार्टियों के साथ गठबंधन करके चुनाव लड़ा है तब हमारा बेस वोट उन्हें ट्रांस्फर हुआ है लेकिन वे पार्टियाँ अपना बेस वोट बीएसपी को ट्रांस्फर नहीं करा पायी हैं। ऐसे में बीएसपी को हमेशा घाटे में ही रहना पड़ा है।

— Mayawati (@Mayawati) February 20, 2025

She went on to say that the conduct, character, and face of the Congress has always been strongly opposed to Baba Saheb Dr Bhimrao Ambedkar.
"In any case, the conduct, character, and face of the Congress and BJP, etc., have always been strongly opposed to Baba Saheb Dr Bhimrao Ambedkar, his follower BSP and its leadership, his Dalit-Bahujan followers and reservation, etc., due to which the country is far behind in achieving the egalitarian and welfare objective of the constitution, which is a matter of concern," she added.

3. वैसे भी कांग्रेस व भाजपा आदि का चाल, चरित्र, चेहरा हमेशा बाबा साहेब डा. भीमराव अम्बेडकर, उनकी अनुयायी बीएसपी व उसके नेतृत्व, उनके दलित-बहुजन अनुयाइयों एवं आरक्षण आदि का घोर विरोधी रहा है, जिससे देश संविधान का समतामूलक व कल्याणकारी उद्देश्य पाने में काफी पीछे जो चिन्ताजनक।

— Mayawati (@Mayawati) February 20, 2025

This comes after Rahul Gandhi on Thursday indicated that if Bahujan Samaj Party chief Mayawati had fought the recent parliamentary elections with the Congress, they would have won.
Addressing students at the Mool Bharti hostel in his constituency of Raebareli in Uttar Pradesh, Gandhi asked, "Why doesn't Mayawati fight elections properly?"
In a conversation with students, one of them spoke about issues regarding the hostel when Rahul Gandhi intervened and asked, "What do you think about Kanshiram Ji?"
After the student gave his response and also mentioned Mayawati, Rahul Gandhi asked, "Why doesn't Mayawati fight elections properly?". "We wanted Behenji to fight elections along with us against the BJP," Rahul Gandhi said, referring to the BSP supremo.
Notably, Congress and the Samajwadi Party had contested the 2024 parliamentary elections together as part of the INDIA alliance, while the BSP fought the elections independently. (ANI)