Demanding expulsion and stringent punishment against Uttar Pradesh BJP vice president Dayashankar Singh, who allegedly used abusive language against her, Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) national president Mayawati on Wednesday said Singh has not used that language against her, but used it for his daughter and his sister, and warned that if the BJP and the Centre failed to act against him, people would take to the streets for which she would not be responsible.
"The BJP vice president has not used that language against me; he has used that language for his daughter and for his sister, because the entire society considers me as its 'sister'. The country will not forgive the BJP for the language he has used for me," said Mayawati in the Rajya Sabha.
"I demand from the leader of the House (Rajya Sabha) to sit with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and party national president Amit Shah and expel that leader from the BJP and take strong action against him or people will take to the streets, for which I won't be responsible," she warned.
"In my entire political career, I have never hurled an abuse at any leader and against any party. Of course, we have ideological differences and I attack sharply as far as ideologies are concerned and for the benefit of the weaker section, but I have never used derogatory language or character assassinated anybody," she said, adding that the abuse hurled by the BJP leader has hurt the Bahujan Samaj.
"Today, he has used such language against me; tomorrow he can use it for a woman of upper caste or for a woman of the backward caste or against sister and daughter of anybody," she decried.
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Tearing into the Centre's inaction against Minster of State for External Affairs, who had allegedly called Dalits as 'dog', the BSP chief said, "Saying 'sorry' won't do, the BJP will have to take action against the leader and should not let him go as the party did in the case of its leader who termed Dalit 'dogs'".
Terming the BJP "anti-Dalit", she said atrocities against Dalits are rampant in Gujarat, but the government is sitting with folded hands.
She, however, expressed her gratitude to the leader of the House and other leaders for unequivocally criticising the UP BJP vice president for his derogatory remarks.
Recounting that Bahujan Nayak Kanshi Ram in his lifetime had named her as his successor in his lifetime, Mayawati said "Taking inspiration from struggles of Baba Saheb Ambedkar and Kanshi Ram, I have dedicated my entire life for the down trodden and weaker people of the nation. I took a decision that I have not get married and raise a family, because all down trodden people in the country are my family. My family is too big, who call me 'Behan' with respect. Even in the House, members hardly call me by my name, the call me 'Behanji'."
Asserting that she has dedicated her entire life for the downtrodden and weaker people with single-minded devotion, the former UP chief minister said, "When Kanshi Ram had started this movement, he had called for 'one note, one vote'. He had said 'if downtrodden people give us money along with their votes, we will have not be dependent on the capitalists class for money'. And therefore, taking inspiration from Kanshi Ram, our party collects money from the downtrodden people to keep the movement going on, and this movement is flourishing."
"The people of Bahujan Samaj observe my birthday on January 15 as 'Aarthik Diwas'. I tell them don't gift me gold, silver, costly ornaments and gifts and if they want to give something, then they must help party economically, said Mayawati, adding that people having capitalist bend of mind don't like it. "The BJP, which is vying for power in Uttar Pradesh, does not like it," she added.
Meanwhile, the BJP has suspended Dayashankar Singh as UP vice-president.
