Singh’s wife Swati Singh had earlier said, “My husband is in politics, but we have no political connection but BSP workers have abused all women of the family in a public protest”.
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Mayawati herself bared her action plan in Delhi when she said on Thursday that the agitation by her supporters and followers was justified as they not “only treated me as a leader but as a Devi (Goddess)”.
Tetra Devi, Singh’s mother said that BSP protesters shouted abuses at her, Singh’s sister and daughter.
Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav on Saturday broke his silence on the ongoing war of words between the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), and called it unfortunate.
Addressing a rally on Tuesday, Singh had said that the BSP chief was selling party tickets, and that “even a prostitute was better than her”. “But what is being done by the BSP workers is also incorrect”, he said. “I have always followed my mentor Kanshi Ram’s advice to take (donation) from the underprivileged and not industrialists”, she said, adding that the BJP was perturbed by the huge support her party was getting in Uttar Pradesh. She asked whether Mayawati would be held responsible if anything happened to her or her daughter.
Swati also demanded an answer from Mayawati as to why she was not taking any action against BSP leader Nassemuddin Siddiqui who made derogatory remarks against Dayashankar Singh’s family members. “If someone is ready to give Rs 3 crore by the evening, she gives the ticket to him”, Singh alleged. He has said that BSP leaders were openly inciting their cadres against a certain community and a family, and asked how so many people were allowed to gather at Hazratganj on Thursday despite prohibitory orders in force.
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However, the BSP leader stuck to her remarks and told reporters after the protest that she stands by what she has said. He said over 1,000 Dalits were killed when Mayawati was the chief minister and over 29,000 cases of atrocities against them were registered. She attacked the BJP, saying its anti- Dalit mindset has been exposed as it has still not sacked a minister who had compared Dalits to dogs, an apparent reference to MoS VK Singh.
