BSP Protests All Over UP, Bahanji Par Apmaan Nahi Sahenge
Protests have been raging all over Uttar Pradesh today with statues of Dayashankar Singh being burned by angry cadres and workers of the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP). One such protest took place on the road between Varanasi and Jaunpur, Ram Singur Gautam of the BSP told Sabrangindia. Protesters at the Badlapur Chauraha headed by Zilla Sachiv, BSP Ram Singur Gautam were raising strong slogans directed at the Modi government. “ Bahanji ki apmaan nahin sahenge” were some of these.
Meanwhile, in Lucknow, the BSP filed a complaint against Singh under the SC/ST Act at the Hazratganj Kotwali and police said an FIR was being lodged. Media reports said that police said raids have been conducted in Lucknow and Ballia to arrest Singh. In Ballia, Singh’s brother Dharmendra was taken into custody from his house, SP, Manoj Jha said. Since early morning party workers from different districts converged at the Ambedkar statue at the
Hazratganj crossing on the call of the party to stage dharna against Singh. In the dharna, which threw traffic out of for hours, a BSP worker was slightly injured while trying to set an effigy ablaze. Late on July 20, an FIR was lodged against Singh under sections 153-A (promoting enmity between different groups), 504 (intentional insult with intent to breach peace) and 509 (word, gesture or act intended to insult the modesty of a woman) of the IPC and the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act after a complaint against him was lodged with Hazratganj police by party national secretary of the BSP, Mevalal Gautam.
Singh, who may have squandered his hopes of getting a ticket from the Ballia Assembly seat, made his intemperate remarks at a felicitation ceremony organised by local workers in Mau district in eastern UP for his appointment.
Yesterday evening, the videotape of Dayashankar Singh’s remarks circulated on social networks and created a storm, inviting condemnation from all around. Within hours, the BJP on Wednesday sacked its new Uttar Pradesh vice-president Dayashankar Singh from all party posts after he made derogatory remarks against BSP chief Mayawati, sparking an uproar in Parliament and leaving red faces in the BJP. BJP sources have told sections of the media that Singh is likely to be expelled from the party for six years. Speaking at a meeting in Mau where he was being felicitated by BJP workers, Singh, while accusing Mayawati of selling party election tickets, questioned her character, saying her behaviour was worse than that of a prostitute and it was the reason why followers of Kanshi Ram were deserting her.
See Sabrangindia's exclusive video coverage of the protests on the Badlapur Chauraha:
“Ek vaishya se bhi badtar charitra ki aaj Mayawatiji ho gayi hain. Isi liye Kanshi Ram ke banaye karyakarta unka saath chhod kar ja rahe hain aur BSP samapt ho rai hai… Mayawatiji kisi ko 1 crore mein ticket deti hain. Koi 2 crore dene wala milta hai toh usey ticket de deti hain, aur shaam ko koi 3 crore dene ko taiyyar hota hai toh usey de deti hain (Mayawati gives a ticket for 1 crore which she changes if she is offered 2 crore. And she changes even that ticket if she is offered 3 crore by evening),” Singh said.
Yesterday, July 20, in the Rajya Sabha, where Mayawati was also present, Leader of House Arun Jaitley expressed regret and promised action. “It is not right and I condemn the use of such words and I will look into this matter. I express personal regrets. I associate our dignity with yours and stand with you,” Jaitley told the BSP leader, addressing her as “Behen Mayawati”.
In her remarks, Mayawati said she was “grateful” to Jaitley and the Opposition leaders for supporting her: “Outside and even in Parliament, I am called Behenji (sister) by most people. So the man who used this term for me, he has abused not me, but his sisters. If action is not taken against him by his party, there will be big protests across the country.”
She also hit out at the BJP for not sacking a “minister who had compared Dalits to dogs” — a reference to Minister of State V K Singh’s controversial remarks after the death of two Dalit children in Faridabad. “They have not yet sacked a BJP minister who had compared Dalits to dogs. The country will not forgive them,” she said. “I did not marry and I consider the entire oppressed of the country as my family. I have always followed my mentor Kanshi Ram’s advice to take (donation) from the underprivileged and not industrialists.”
Later in the evening, BSP leaders, led by Naseemuddin Siddiqui, went to the Hazratganj Kotwali in Lucknow where party national secretary Mewalal Gautam filed a complaint against Dayashankar Singh.
The complaint stated that Singh’s remarks in Mau had hurt the feelings of BSP workers and Dalits across the country and were aimed at provoking them. Police said an FIR was being lodged against Singh under the SC/ST Act and other sections. In the Rajya Sabha, members were chatting after House proceedings had been adjourned until 3 pm, when Vivek Gupta of Trinamool Congress passed his smartphone to BSP MP Ashok Siddharth who saw the video of Singh’s remarks. He rushed with the phone to Mayawati who was sitting in the front row.
Her colleague Satish Chandra Mishra walked up to Congress members Ghulam Nabi Azad, Ahmed Patel and Anand Sharma. Azad took a hard look at the phone before turning to his party members.
Mayawati, who rarely leaves her seat to talk to other leaders, also went up to the Congress leaders who were in a huddle by then.Shortly before 3 pm, Congress leaders called Minister of State Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi and told him about Singh’s remarks. TMC’s Derek O’ Brien showed him his phone. Naqvi then asked one of the officials in the gallery to call Jaitley. Mayawati and Mishra rallied the Congress and other Opposition members who condemned the remarks and called for Singh’s arrest and suspension.