Lucknow: BSP chief Mayawati on Monday accused the central government of "communalising" Yoga Day celebrations and said the ruling BJP had once again proved that it was not ready to shun its "narrow mindedness".
"Efforts to make the 'yog diwas' programme an official function and communalising it proves once again what people have alleged that central government and BJP were not ready to shun its narrow mindset," Mayawati said in a party release.
The BSP supremo alleged that the BJP-led government tried to use the maiden International Day of Yoga for communal polarisation but when it failed to do so, the names of the vice-president and president were wrongly dragged in.
BJP leader Ram Madhav, had in tweets, questioned Vice-President Hamid Ansari's absence from the mass yoga but deleted those after the Vice President's office protested.
He then tweeted that Ansari was unwell, which was also contradicted by the Vice President's office, which said he was not invited at all.
Alleging that the drama attached to Yoga Day was an attempt by the central government to divert people's attention from its failures during the last one year, she said, "Neither the policy nor the intention of the Narendra Modi government to make it (Yoga Day) an official programme were right."
"The BJP government had come to power making tall promises but the biggest achievement in national interest of this government appears to be getting an entry into the Guiness Book of World Records after conducting Yoga at the Rajpath with 35,985 people."
"The Modi government should have worked towards fulfiling its promises on providing jobs, removing poverty and among others to set a record but all this now seems remote as its policies and programmes appear to be in favour of big capitalists and industrialists," she said.
