"Ruling party, opposition made Constitution casteist, communal, capitalist": BSP Chief Mayawati

Uttar Pradesh former Chief Minister and BSP Chief Mayawati on Tuesday came down heavily on ruling party and opposition and claimed that both of them, through amendments, have made the Constitution casteist, communalist, and capitalist (jatiwad, sampradayik, aur poonjiwad). Addressing a press conference in Lucknow, Mayawati alleged that the ruling, as well as, the opposition parties are two sides of the same coin (ek hi thali ke chatte-batte), adding that both the BJP and Congress divert public attention from pressing issues like unemployment and poverty.

"There is no doubt that the government and the opposition inside the Parliament and outside by showing the copies of the Constitution are two sides of the same coin (ek hi thali ke chatte-batte). Even their mindset seems the same." Stepping up her attacks, she claim, "The government and the opposition, through various amendments have made the Constitution jatiwad, sampradayik, aur poonjiwad (Casteist, Communalist, and Capitalist)."

The former UP CM also criticised the Congress and BJP for failing to address the issues of poverty and inflation and said, "Both parties, BJP and Congress, in the states where they are ruling, have failed to address poverty, inflation. To distract people, they are doing the drama of saving the Constitution." She added further, "For their own political benefit, they are playing with the Constitution, and this is not right."

"The opposition and the ruling party have made so many amendments to the Constitution that it no longer holds the values of BR Ambedkar. The constitution is no longer secular...," Mayawati said. The BSP Chief also claimed that the opposition and the government together want to finish the reservation that is granted in the Constitution for the SC, ST and OBC or want to make it ineffective.

Talking about the caste census, Mayawati said that the opposition is not serious about the issue. "The opposition talks about caste census but it is not serious about it. None of them want to conduct the caste census and are only indulged in vote politics," Mayawati said. A day before, opposition leaders, including Congress Parliamentary Party Chairperson Sonia Gandhi, staged a protest in Parliament premises holding copies of the Constitution in their hands.