Political parties use rewadis to lure voters, betray them later: Mayawati

BSP chief Mayawati on Monday alleged that political parties were using “rewadis” and attractive promises to influence voters before elections, and warned people against what she called repeated “deception and betrayal” after governments are formed. She also said young people from Gen Z and Gen Alpha were increasingly speaking out against anti-people policies and were facing government repression, including police cases.

Addressing a meeting of BSP office-bearers in Lucknow, Mayawati reviewed the party’s preparations for the upcoming Uttar Pradesh Assembly polls, including candidate selection and the reorganisation of committees up to the polling booth level after the Election Commission’s Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls.

She also spoke about migration linked to inflation, poverty and unemployment, the flood situation in Nepal and its impact on eastern Uttar Pradesh, and preparations for BSP founder Kanshi Ram’s death anniversary programme on October 9.

Mayawati said, “Through ‘rewadis’ and various kinds of attractive promises and announcements offering private benefits, particularly to women, voters are sought to be wrongly influenced before elections. But after governments are formed, people across the country are witnessing repeated betrayal of promises.”

She said people in Uttar Pradesh should be made aware of such “open deception and betrayal” so that they could vote independently and according to their own choice.

She said the BSP’s fight was against the “continuous betrayal of promises, deception and irresponsibility towards public welfare after elections in different states”. She added that “even Gen Z and Gen Alpha are coming out to fight against such anti-people policies and activities and are facing government repression, including police cases”.

The BSP chief said inflation, poverty, unemployment and backwardness had forced people in Uttar Pradesh to migrate in search of livelihoods. She alleged that steps announced by governments to tackle these problems often seemed more like electoral “deception” than real solutions, and compared them to “a drop in the ocean”.

“Ensuring public interest and welfare is the constitutional responsibility of every government and must be carried out every year, irrespective of elections,” she said.

Mayawati also claimed that BSP governments in Uttar Pradesh had carried out welfare and development work without waiting for elections or any “auspicious occasion”, and said work linked to “social transformation and economic emancipation” during her governments remained unprecedented.

During the meeting, she reviewed progress in restructuring committees up to the polling booth level after the Special Intensive Revision exercise and directed office-bearers to complete the remaining work within a stipulated timeframe. She also asked party workers to step up preparations in view of the changing political situation and counter what she called opponents’ “despicable tactics” involving “saam, daam, dand, bhed”.

Mayawati expressed confidence that the BSP would form the government in Uttar Pradesh for the fifth time and provide “the best rule of law” based on “Sarvajan Hitay, Sarvajan Sukhay”.

Mayawati also issued directions for organising Kanshi Ram’s October 9 death anniversary programme in a “missionary spirit”. She said this year’s programme would be held only in Lucknow at the Kanshi Ram Memorial site on VIP Road, and that people from western Uttar Pradesh and other parts of the state would gather there to pay tribute to him and take a pledge to complete his mission.

On the flood situation in Nepal, Mayawati expressed deep sorrow over the loss of life and property, including among Indians, and conveyed her sympathy to affected families. She urged the Centre and the Uttar Pradesh government to extend all possible help to those hit by the floods, especially in eastern Uttar Pradesh.

“Otherwise, particularly in eastern Uttar Pradesh, the lives of people already suffering from poverty, hunger and exploitation through debt will become even more difficult,” she said.

She also called for the immediate delivery of disaster-relief benefits to needy people and families, and stressed the need for a permanent solution to the recurring annual problem of floods.