Mayawati quits Rajya Sabha, attacks govt for gagging her; BJP calls BSP chief's resignation a 'drama'

Mayawati lost power in Uttar Pradesh in 2012 and her party was routed in this year's Assembly elections.

New Delhi: BSP chief Mayawati on Tuesday quit the Rajya Sabha, blaming the BJP and the Chair for not allowing her to raise the issue of anti-Dalit violence in Uttar Pradesh.

Mayawati has given a three-page resignation letter to Ansari which officials say may not be accepted because members quitting Parliament are expected to submit their resignation in a simple format and without conditions.

Hours before she met Rajya Sabha chairman Hamid Ansari to tender her resignation, an angry Mayawati (61) walked out of the Upper House and threatening to quit Parliament after the Chair asked her to restrict her speech on anti-Dalit violence in Saharanpur.

"I met the chairman to hand over my resignation letter. It is not fair that I am not allowed to speak in the House on issues close to me...," she told reporters.

In her resignation letter, she said, "When I got up to speak, the government side did not allow me to complete. Their members stood up and interfered... Instead of asking them not to interfere, the Deputy Chairman asked me to end as the allocated three minutes were over. Which rule says a member cannot speak for more than three minutes. It is not good."

#BSP Chief #Mayawati resigns from Rajya Sabha, saying she was prevented from speaking on atrocities on Dalits in Saharanpur #UttarPradesh. pic.twitter.com/6rW4djrOKY — Bahujan Samaj Party (@BspUp2017) July 18, 2017

Earlier, she had demanded a discussion over the issue of violence against Dalits but Deputy Chairman PJ Kurien told her she had already made her demand for a full discussion and should let the House conduct its business.

Launching a scathing attack against the BJP government in UP and Modi-led central government, she said that both were "mute spectators" to the violence against Dalits in Saharanpur in May when their houses were torched and 15 Dalits injured.

She said that BSP leaders were not even allowed to visit the affected families.

As Kurien sought to stop Mayawati, she said, "If I am not allowed to talk, if I cannot represent the section of the society I belong to, if I am not allowed to put across my views on atrocities on Dalits, then there is no point in staying in the House. I will resign," as per IANS. 

The veteran politician then walked out in anger.

Mayawati's resignation a 'drama' to create confusion: BJP

Meanwhile, the BJP today slammed BSP supremo's resignation from the Rajya Sabha, calling the move a "drama" aimed at "creating confusion" by raising an emotional pitch.

BJP general secretary Bhupender Yadav said the people will not be misled by her.

Talking to reporters, he stated that Mayawati had lost the mandate among the masses and her six-year tenure in the Upper House would have anyway ended in the next session of Parliament, while suggesting that her action was driven more by "frustration", as per PTI.

He said the Dalit leader was given twice the allotted time to raise her issue in the House and it was "unfortunate" that she did not give due respect to the Chair.

She did not follow the Parliamentary decorum while raising issues, Yadav, a Rajya Sabha member, said.

It was surprising that she chose to resign, he said.

"So the question is why did she do so? She has lost people's mandate. She is likely to be in frustration. Her tenure is anyway going to end in the next session.

"Some people are resorting to emotional pitch in politics by doing drama so as to create confusion. People will not be misled," he said.

The Modi government, Yadav said, had been working overtime to empower Dalits, backwards and the poor.

The BSP has five more members in the Rajya Sabha. Mayawati, 61, lost power in Uttar Pradesh in 2012 and her party was routed in this year's Assembly elections, winning 19 seats in the 402-member House.

(With Agency inputs)