BJP fomenting religious disputes to deviate masses from real issues: Mayawati

Lucknow: BSP president Mayawati on Wednesday accused the BJP governments at the state and Centre of encouraging communal and religious disputes to divert people's attention from pressing issues of price rise and unemployment.

In her address to the party workers, she urged them to strengthen the party ahead of the general elections next year and work from booth level up.

"People in UP are battling problems of price rise, poverty, unemployment, lack of security for women and other exploitation," she said.

The former Uttar Chief Minister urged the BJP governments, wherever they are, must to understand that alleged instances of love jihad, land jihad, religious conversion, and hate speech have people under the grip of fear, and asked it to act sternly against forces which spread them.

"Manipur is burning today because of the promotion of narrow political interests," she said without taking any names.

BSP has already made it clear that it would not align with any party and go alone in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.

The party, which historically has had a strong Dalit supporter base, had fought the last general election in alliance with the Samajwadi Party, and has 10 MPs in the Lok Sabha.

It has some MLAs in Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, and Uttrakhand.

Mayawati has so far kept a distance from efforts of forging a grand alliance by Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and others.