Congress had offered UP CM post to Mayawati but she `did not even talk to us`: Rahul Gandhi

Rahul Gandhi said, `We gave a message to Mayawati to form an alliance and asked her to become the chief minister. She did not even talk to us.`

New Delhi: Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Saturday (April 9) claimed that his party had proposed Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) chief Mayawati to fight the recently-concluded Uttar Pradesh assembly elections together and offered her the Chief Minister post but "she did not even talk to us".

Targeting Mayawati, Rahul Gandhi alleged she gave clear passage to the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in UP because of "the CBI, the ED and Pegasus".

"We gave a message to Mayawati to form an alliance and asked her to become the chief minister. She did not even talk to us,” PTI quoted the Congress MP as saying. 

The Wayanad MP said he respects BSP patriarch Kanshi Ram for articulating the Dalit voice of Uttar Pradesh, even though it affected Congress during that phase.

"But Mayawatiji is saying that I will not fight for it .. She gave a clear passage to the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). Why? (because of ) CBI, the ED and Pegasus," Gandhi alleged. 

Gandhi also said that even though he was born at the centre of power, he does not have interest in it. “They're politicians who're in pursuit of power. They ponder upon attaining power throughout...I was born in the centre of power but honestly, I don't have an interest in it. Instead, I try to understand the country,” the Congress leader said, as per ANI. 

Rahul Gandhi was speaking at the book launch event of "The Dalit Truth" in Delhi, wherein he exhorted Dalits to fight for their rights by walking on the path shown by B R Ambedkar and Mahatma Gandhi. 

(With agency inputs)