Row over Udit Raj’s remark on Mayawati, BSP seeks action
The BSP workers took to street in Lucknow and other cities on Tuesday, demanding action against Udit Raj
Congress leader Udit Raj’s controversial statement against Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) chief Mayawati that she has ‘strangled the social movement and now the time has come to strangle her’ has sparked strong reactions from the BSP leaders as they demand strict action against him.
The BSP workers took to street in Lucknow and other cities on Tuesday, demanding action against Udit Raj--also a former Lok Sabha MP. BSP chief Mayawati and party’s national coordinator Aakash Anand demanded his arrest within 24 hours.
Addressing a press conference in Lucknow on Monday, Udit Raj said, “Mayawati has strangled the social movement and it is time to strangle her.” Calling for Dalit and Muslim communities to unite to take on their oppressors, he said, “Muslims cannot fight this alone... the Dalits are also not capable alone.”
Referring to the Mahabharata and Lord Krishna’s advice to Arjuna, he said, “When during the war in Mahabharata, Arjun asked Krishna, ‘how will I kill my cousins and relatives’, Krishna said, ‘fight for justice and kill your own people’.”
“Today, my Krishna told me ‘first kill your enemy’. And the enemy of social justice (is) Mayawati, who strangled the social movement. Now the time has come to strangle her,” Raj said.
In a series of posts on X, the BSP chief said, “The Congress party, especially which has disdained at every level the humanitarian struggle of Dr Bhimrao Ambedkar for self-respect and self-esteem of millions of exploited and oppressed Dalits/ Bahujans, even during his lifetime and after his death, can never be true and trustworthy to his thinking and policies.”
Slamming the Congress, she said, “Therefore, no matter how many programmes the Congress organises in the name of ‘Jai Bapu, Jai Bhim, Jai Mandal, Jai Samvidhan’ etc for purely political and electoral gains, the followers of Babasaheb are not going to be misled by them. They are aware and alert and are struggling to stand on their own feet.”
“Along with this, the Bahujan Samaj needs to be cautious of some party-changing opportunists and selfish Dalits who keep making baseless statements to please their masters and should not take them seriously because they are ignorant and unfamiliar with the ‘social change and economic liberation’ movement,” the BSP chief said.
In a separate post on X, BSP’s national coordinator and Mayawati’s nephew Akash Anand said, “Today in Lucknow, some old associates of Kanshi Ram Saheb, who switched sometimes to the BJP and sometimes to the Congress, sycophant Udit Raj has given a lot of information on Saheb’s mission.”
“Udit Raj is notorious for looking for opportunities in other parties for his own vested interests. He is concerned about the Bahujan movement only so that he can become an MP or MLA by becoming sycophant of some party leaders. This has nothing to do with the upliftment of the Bahujan society,” he alleged.
“I am a young soldier of the Bahujan Mission but I understand the mission of Babasaheb and Kanshi Ram Saheb more than this. The kind of threat that is given today is absolutely intolerable to crores of soldiers of the Bahujan Mission,” Anand said.
“Forgetting the mission of Kanshi Ram Saheb for his own selfish interests, this sycophant is today criticising our most respected lady who gave social and economic liberation to millions of Dalits, exploited and deprived poor of the country with political power,” he added.
“He is threatening to strangle party chief Mayawati ji. I want to clearly tell UP Police that this criminal should be arrested within 24 hours and strict action should be taken under the law, otherwise the Bahujan youth of the country is not going to sit quiet. I know very well how to teach them a lesson,” Anand said.
Reacting to Udit Raj’s statement, a Congress leader, who did not wish to be named, said, “It is a personal statement of the former MP.”
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