BJP trying to divide deities on caste lines: Maya

Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) supremo Mayawati on Thursday hit out at the BJP, alleging that after dividing people into caste lines, it was now segregating deities for votes.

Referring to Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath's recent claim that Lord Hanuman was a "Dalit", she said the top leadership of the BJP has "stooped to such a level for votes that they are not even sparing the deities".

She alleged while the common man and farmers are suffering under the BJP rule, the party is talking of constructing a temple in Ayodhya, ignoring its primary responsibility of governance as enshrined in the Constitution.

Addressing a gathering of party functionaries at an event to mark the death anniversary of B R Ambedkar, she said following Adityanath's statement, people have been demanding that Dalits be appointed as priests in Hanuman temples.

"First they divided people into the lines of caste, now they are dividing even the deities ... People need to vigilant against them," she told the gathering, according to a statement issued by her party.

Hanuman was a forest dweller, a Dalit and deprived, the UP CM had said recently during an election rally in Rajasthan.

Mayawati claimed that the government is trying to destroy all constitutional institutions that help the Dalits and the downtrodden get their rights.

She said while the government claims that it will double the farmers' income by 2021, the farming community is worried about its immediate future and is reeling under crop loss and debt.