Lucknow: In her first rally since quitting the BJP, Bahraich MP Savitri Bai Phule launched a scathing attack on the saffron party, saying it should focus on marginalised sections and not on temple politics.
“I left the BJP as they talked about Ram Temple instead of Scheduled Caste rights and jobs for the poor. I also want to tell my SC/ST compatriots that our community needs jobs and education for the poor instead of a Ram Temple. Don’t get swayed as they want to exploit our religious sentiments,” Phule said at a rally in Lucknow’s Ramabai Sthal on Sunday.
Phule, who was born into a Dalit-Buddhist family in Uttar Pradesh’s Bahraich’s district, further accused the RSS and BJP of conspiring to snatch do away with reservation in jobs and education to SC/ST community.
She also indirectly targeted BSP chief Mayawati, saying “some leaders” had attained power because of Dalit votes, but did not do anything significant for the community.
Phule’s slogan ‘Yeh Chowkidar Nahi, Ghotalebazon Ka Sardar Hai’ was similar to the slogan coined by Congress chief Rahul Gandhi against the BJP leadership.
Speaking on the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, she said that the Dalit and OBC communities need to unite in order to increase their representation in Parliament as that was the only way to safeguard their rights.
Phule had resigned from the BJP earlier this month, criticising the party for “trying to create divisions in the society”.
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