Zeenews Bureau
New Delhi: Former Uttar Pradesh chief minister Mayawati on Saturday refused to disclose her party’s choice for the upcoming Presidential Polls candidates, preferring to wait for the other parties to declare their candidates first.
“It will not be right to comment of the issue right now. We will disclose our candidates for the Presidential Elections only after the UPA and NDA declare their candidates,” Mayawati said at a press conference held here today.
When asked whether the UPA government will be able to complete its 5-year term, Mayawati said that the question should be asked from the government and their alliance partners.
Calling the situation in Uttar Pradesh as pitiable, she lashed out at the SP describing them anti-Dalit. She further said that the present situation in UP is that of lawlessness with crimes like murder, rape and extortions on the rise.
She said in the past two months, 800 murders, 270 rapes, 256 kidnappings and 720 cases of loot had take place, and criminals who were behind bars when she was in office had been released.
Commenting on the recent move of the SP government changing names of various schemes, Mayawati said that the move is a result of petty thinking. “The SP government is trying to close down all the welfare schemes that were started by my government.”
She accused Akhilesh Yadav of managing the media to highlight the government`s so-called achievements. "This government is working on paper and through loud pronouncements only," she said, adding the new government had ended 26 welfare schemes run by her government in 13 departments.
Asked why she was still supporting the United Progressive Alliance when Congress had campaigned against her in the state, Mayawati said that for her, "personal welfare comes later and national interest first".
Mayawati also said that PL Punia was appointed as chief secretary so that he could work for Dalits, but he hardly did anything for them. “But the reality was otherwise as he belonged to the Gandhi school of thought instead of Ambedkar’s.”
Mayawati also termed the various probe committees against her as “baseless”.
