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Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) supremo and former Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati on Thursday took a dig at Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) prime ministerial nominee Narendra Modi over Gujarat riots and said if such a person is voted to power "the whole nation will witness riots". Addressing an election rally Lakhimpur Kheri in UP, Mayawati said,“The BJP has announced Modi as its prime ministerial nominee in whose regime in 2002 Gujarat witnessed the country’s worst ever riots in Godhra... If such a person is voted to power at the Centre, the whole nation will witness riots.” Attacking the Samajwadi Party, she said the "rule of law has vanished" in UP since the party came to power.
In the state and only goondas and “mafias” are ruling the roost.
"Murder, theft, dacoity, rape and riots have become the order of the day," she said.
Criticising the SP government for riots in Muzaffarnagar and Shamli, Mayawati said, "These riots have in particular damaged the Muslim community a lot."
In her 45-minute speech at the local government inter-college sports ground, the BSP supremo gave a clarion call to the Muslim community "not to get divided". "To prevent the BJP from reaching the Centre, the Muslim community must ensure that their unified support is for the BSP and any division among them would only benefit the BJP," she said.
Mayawati blamed the Congress in particular and other parties, including the BJP in general for the neglect of UP, the minorities, Other Backward Classes and the Dalit community.
"Even the BJP during its six years' regime did nothing to improve the fate of the country, as well as that of the poor and the weaker sections," she said and appealed to the people to vote for her party's candidates — Arvind Giri in Kheri and Daud Ahmad in Dhaurehra.
Addressing another rally in Hardoi, Mayawati attacked the Congress, saying that the party which did not initiate concrete steps for development in the past 50 years of its government should be stopped from coming back to power.
Those who reach the Lok Sabha with help of capitalists safeguard their interests instead of the common people, she said. Mayawati claimed that Congress's yuvraj, referring to party vice-president Rahul Gandhi, is their prime ministerial candidate.
Slamming the BJP, the BSP chief said the saffron outfit does not want to see Muslims stand on their own feet.
