Lucknow/New Delhi: Bringing the Election Commission in the line of fire, Mayawati on Sunday accused it of buckling under Congress pressure and dared it to order the draping of the party's 'hand' symbol like it has done for her statues and the BSP symbol 'elephant' in Uttar Pradesh.
The BSP chief said that following its constitutional responsibility with honesty, the EC should have issued directives to get Congress' poll symbol and RLD's symbol 'handpump' covered like the statues of elephant.
"If the EC does not take right decisions regarding symbols of these two parties, then the people will consider this decision (with regard to BSP) taken with an anti-dalit and casteist mentality and under pressure of the Congress-led government at the Centre," she saic in Lucknow.
Sniping back at her, Congress said if the statues had been left uncovered, people would have voted with greater vengeance against BSP.
"BSP may actually end up being benefited from the (EC's) order because people in UP are so much upset with this government that seeing her statues and her party symbols in public, they would have voted against Mayawati government with greater vengeance," Party spokesperson Rashid Alvi said in Delhi.
"Covering of her statue as well as that of her party symbol could actually dilute that simmering anger and she may be saved from people's strong disapproval," Alvi said, adding that her criticism of the EC was "unfortunate".
Congress leader Digvijay Singh said the EC should have frozen BSP's party symbol.
It was a low-key 56th birthday today for Chief Minister Mayawati, who used the occasion to release the list of 403 candidates for the coming state polls.
"Tickets have been given to 88 SC candidates, 113 OBC, 85 religious minorities, specially Muslims, 117 upper caste, of which 74 are Brahmins and 33 Chattriyas," she said adding this was to honour the concept of equality.
The BSP is contesting on its own the assembly elections of UP, Punjab and Uttarakhand. Unlike in the past when a huge cake was cut on her birthday amid state-wide celebrations and she announced a number of new projects, the UP CM did not do so this year keeping in view the model code of conduct ahead of next
month's Assembly polls.
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