Mayawati slams SP, Congress for ‘hypocrisy’ in remembering Kanshi Ram

Lucknow, Oct 7 (PTI) Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) president Mayawati on Tuesday hit out at the Samajwadi Party and the Congress, accusing them of adopting a “highly casteist and deceitful” approach towards BSP founder late Kanshi Ram while pretending to honour his legacy.

In a post on X, the BSP chief alleged that both the Samajwadi Party (SP) and the Congress always displayed “deep caste bias and animosity” towards Kanshi Ram, who, she said, revived B R Ambedkar’s self-respect movement and worked to transform Dalits, tribals and other backward classes from the exploited to ruling sections of society.

Referring to SP chief Akhilesh Yadav’s announcement to hold a symposium on Kanshi Ram’s death anniversary on October 9, Mayawati called it “sheer hypocrisy”, which reflected his “two-faced approach”.

She also accused the SP of betraying Kanshi Ram during his lifetime and attempting to weaken the BSP movement in Uttar Pradesh.

Mayawati recalled that the SP government changed the name of the Kanshiram Nagar district – created by the BSP government in 2008 – to Kasganj out of “caste prejudice and political malice”.

She also alleged that several institutions, universities and hospitals named after Kanshi Ram during the BSP regime were later renamed by the SP government, exposing its “anti-Dalit mindset”.

Mayawati criticised both the SP and the Congress for not declaring even a single day of official mourning after Kanshi Ram died in 2006, despite “the entire country, especially Uttar Pradesh, being in grief”.

She claimed the repeated attempts by the SP and the Congress leaders to remember Kanshi Ram from time to time were nothing but “political opportunism and a sham aimed at vote-bank politics”, and urged people to remain “alert and cautious” of such parties.

The BSP has planned to hold a massive rally on the death anniversary of Kanshi Ram in Lucknow on October 9. PTI ABN ARI