Lucknow: Congress leader Udit Raj on Monday stoked a row with his controversial remarks on Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) chief Mayawati. During an event in Lucknow, Raj said that Mayawati should be throttled as she had strangled the social movement.
The Congress leader's remarks sparked a political controversy. "Mayawati ne jo samajik andolan ka gala ghota hai, unka gala ghotne ka samay aa gaya hai (The time has come to strangle Mayawati as she had strangled the social movement," Raj said in during the event. The video of his remarks soon went viral.
Video Of Udit Raj Making Controversial Remarks:
The Congress leader also highlighted Kashiram's role in the Bahujan movement in Uttar Pradesh. After the 1980s, Kanshiram ji started the Bahujan awakening in Uttar Pradesh, which reached its peak in the 2000s. Even though the movement culminated in politics, the thinking and basis has been social justice. Other political parties start with politics and end with it, but this was not the case with the Bahujan Samaj Party," Raj said as reported by The Times of India.
Udit Raj's Clarification:
The Congress leader issued a clarification. He said that his remarks should not be connected with the Congress. Raj called BSP, the B team of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). "Mayawati ji misled people for 4 decades by spreading lies, false propaganda and calling Congress anti-Dalit. Using Dr. Ambedkar as a shield, she slit the throat of Congress and enjoyed the power. Crores of Bahujan workers created the movement by staying hungry and thirsty. Their donations, hard work and sacrifice were swindled. BSP never opened a front against RSS. Even today, it keeps targeting Congress by making some reason or the other so that Dalits do not join. The time has come to send home the one who slit the throat of the entire Bahujan movement. It was the generosity of Congress that for 4 decades, BSP kept making allegations against Ambedkar and Dalits and kept ending itself and did not even defend itself," Raj wrote
."The conference and press conference was organized by Dalit, OBC, Minorities and Adivasi Parisangh. By attacking Congress again with the support of BJP, it showed that BSP is BJP's B team. Please do not drag Congress into this controversy. We are committed to save the Bahujan movement no matter what sacrifice we have to make. Udit Raj is such a person who has never lied to anyone nor has done any dishonesty. I have never compromised on my principles and I will never do so," he added.
Mayawti's Reaction:
The BSP chief slammed the Congress for Raj's controversial remarks. " 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," Mayawati tweeted.
Akash Anand Slams Udit Raj:
Reacting to Raj's controversial remarks, BSP leader and Mayawati's nephew Akash Anand lashed out at the Congress leader. Anand demanded action against Raj. "Today in Lucknow, some old associates of Honorable Kanshiram Saheb, sometimes BJP and sometimes Congress sycophant, Udit Raj has spoken on Saheb's mission," the BSP leader said in his X post.
"Whereas Udit Raj is notorious for looking for opportunities in other parties for his selfish interests. He is concerned about the Bahujan Movement only so that he can become an MP or MLA from some party. This has nothing to do with the upliftment of the Bahujan society," he added.
"I am a young soldier of the Bahujan Mission but I understand the mission of Baba Saheb and Manyavar Saheb more than this. The kind of threat that is present in its language today is absolutely intolerable to crores of soldiers of the Bahujan Mission. Forgetting the mission of Honorable Saheb for his own selfish interests, this sycophant is today criticizing our most respected lady who gave social and economic liberation to millions of Dalits, exploited, deprived poor people of the country with political power. He is threatening to "strangle" respected sister Miss Mayawati ji," the BSP leader wrote.
Mayawati served as the UP CM for four times. Recently, the BSP has witnessed a decline in its vote share in Uttar Pradesh. The Mayawti-led party managed to win only one seat in the 2022 assembly polls and was not been able to open its account in the 2024 general elections.
