Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) chief Mayawati.
Credit: PTI Photo
Lakhimpur Kheri, Uttar Pradesh: Attacking the BJP for fielding Union minister Ajay Mishra again from Lakhimpur Kheri in Uttar Pradesh, BSP chief Mayawati Tuesday it is a chance for the people, especially the farmers, to take a revenge by ensuring that his deposit is forfeited.
Mishra's son had allegedly run his car over the protesting farmers at a village here in 2021.
Referring to the Sikhs who live in Lakhimpur Kheri in sizable numbers, she also recalled the anti-Sikh riots and said they should never pardon the Congress party for the large-scale 'devastation' suffered by them during the then Congress government.
Addressing an election rally to seek support for the BSP candidates from Kheri, Dhaurahra and Sitapur, the party president said when in power, her party took proper care of the farmers and their needs.
"Whenever the BSP was in power in Uttar Pradesh, it had not only provided facilities for farming at reasonable rates but also ensured that they got the right price for their produce. But in the whole of Uttar Pradesh, especially in Lakhimpur, which is famous for farming, there are large numbers of Sikhs and Punjabis who are doing farming," she said.
Recalling the incident which took place in October 2021, the BSP chief alleged that whenever the Sikh and Punjabi farmers tried to raise issues related to farming or agitated for it, they were 'crushed by the BJP people.
Though she did not take any names, the BSP supremo said, "The sitting BJP MP, who is contesting from the seat again, has exploited the farmers in a big way. The farmers had been the victims of oppression and excesses and so I appeal to farmers, Sikhs, Punjabi or Hindus that this (election) is a chance for them to take their revenge and get the deposit forfeited of such a BJP MP."
On October 3, 2021, the protests against the visit of UP Deputy Chief Minister Keshav Prasad Maurya to Lakhimpur Kheri district took a grim turn when four farmers were killed after being trampled by an SUV belonging to Ashish Mishra, the son of Union minister Ajay Mishra 'Teni'.
The BSP President recalled the anti-Sikh riots of 1984 and said, "When the Congress was in power at the Centre, atrocities were committed on the members of the Sikh samaj (community)."
"When Indira Gandhi was assassinated, though the fault was that of one or two members of the community, people belonging to the Sikh community were ruined in a big way all over the country. Should the members of the Sikh community forget it? I think they should never forget it and not pardon the Congress," she stressed.
However, the BSP government never allowed this to happen in UP when in power and took good care of life and property of all sections of the society, she said.
The BSP chief sought support for her party nominees Anshay Kalra from Kheri, Shyam Kishore Awasthi from Dhaurhara and Mahendra Singh Yadav from Sitapur.
She said the BSP wanted to field Kalra from Ghaziabad but when the party came to know about the strong presence of Punjabi Sikhs in Lakhimpur Kheri, it it changed its plan.
"I think no other party has given tickets to as many Brahmins as the BSP," she said.
Polling on these seats is slated for the fourth phase on May 13.