Low and dirty in UP: Mayawati slams Rahul

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Keywords: Dalits, BSP

New Delhi: Mayawati is now getting into a battle mode with Rahul Gandhi. After sending a strong message by ordering the arrest of BKU leader Mahendra SIngh Tikait, she has used strong words to criticise Rahul Gandhi's new found love for Dalits in the state.

After Rahul Gandhi's planned attack against Mayawati, it was the Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister's turn to hit back. With Rahul spending the better part of last month reaching out to the Dalits, Mayawati had to act fast.

"The Congress is leaving no stone unturned to woo Dalits and is sending its prince (Rahul Gandhi) to live and eat with Dalits in various places just to garner their votes. However, I have also come to know that when this 'prince' returns to his home in Delhi after meeting and eating with Dalits, he is given a bath with a special soap and he goes through purification rituals with incense," she said.

Over the last one month, the two were involved in a direct fight for the affection of Dalits.

If Rahul went to a Dalit family that had lost five members in a shootout in Etawah in the morning, Mayawati was there by the evening. When he went to Bundelkhand to express solidarity with the poor farmers, Mayawati caught up with a special package for Bundelkhandi farmers.

So as Mayawati gets aggressive, the Congress interprets it as her getting rattled.

Uttar Pradesh Congress Committee spokesperson, Akhilesh Pratap Singh says, "Mayawati's popularity is dwindling and so she is resorting to such statements."

The Congress last month declared Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister, Mayawati is its top rival in the state. The party has accused her government of gobbling funds.

But Mayawati is not one to take things lying down. She is hitting back and hitting low.

Through the arrest of Tikait, she sent the message that she was the only Dalit saviour. It seems as if everyone is trying to woo the Dalits and so the battle for the Dalit vote is intensifying in this crucial electoral year.