Bahujan Samaj Party 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 headquarter here marked the end of a month-long series of the BSP's 'prabhudd varga sammelans', where she assured that the community will be treated right if her BSP forms the government in 2022.
She said the four BSP governments in the past have honoured leaders who worked for equality through memorials, museums and statues and now there was no need of constructing more of them.
"Whatever needed to be done, I have done it in bulk," she said.
"Now when a BSP-led government is formed, my entire efforts will not go into building memorials, parks and statues. But my whole energy will go into changing the face of Uttar Pradesh," Mayawati said.
But she added that her government will be open to erecting memorials to honour leaders from 'other communities' 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.
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 small statue of Lord Ganesh on the dias.
She promised that on coming to power, the BSP government will work for the security, honour and development of the Brahmin community along with other sections of society and they would be taken care of properly and not disappointed in any way.
"Our sisters have not been able to move out after sunset both under the present BJP government as well as the previous SP government even if they make any claim or resort to any tactic to prove it," she said.
Mayawati accused the BJP and the Samajwadi Party of only making lofty promises but not doing anything on the ground for the 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 in particular and said this could be testified by seeing its track record during the party's previous government in the state from 2007-12.
The BSP had formed government on its own in 2007 by winning 206 seats in the 403-member UP assembly.
The victory was largely attributed to her social engineering by forging Dalit-Brahmin unity.
"Like in the 2007, the Dalits and Brahmins should work united to ensure the party comes to power in the upcoming election," the feisty politician said.
Besides, attacking the Baharatiya Janata Party and the Samajwadi Party, the BSP chief also took potshots at the Congress, blaming it for Meerut and Muzaffarnagar riots when the grand old party was in power at the Centre.
She supported farmers' protests against the farm laws and announced that future BSP government in the state would not implement it.
Referring to Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh chief Mohan Bhagwat's statement that both Hindus and Muslims have the same ancestors, the BSP president asked why the RSS, the BJP and the government have adopted a step-motherly approach towards Muslims.
She promised that a high-level inquiry will be instituted to probe all wrong acts committed under the subsequent government and action will be taken against all those found guilty and justice will be provided to those oppressed.
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 has 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 the 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.
Stressing that it is only her party which does what it says, she said this is its political identity.
"Unlike other parties, the BSP has never made 'hawa hawai batein' (tall claims), nor befooled people with false promises and allurements," she said, citing the works done by her governments, without discrimination, and how they lived up to the expectations of the people.
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 they fell prey to the BJP's promises while trying to get rid of the SP.
