Mayawati launches BSP's nation-wide poll campaign

Bahujan Samaj Party supremo and Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati launched her party's national campaign for the Lok Sabha elections from Thiruvananthapuram on Saturday, attacking the Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party and wooing the forward class with her social engineering formula.

Choosing this southern city as part of her party's strategy to spread its wings across the country, she promised job reservation for economically poor among the upper caste if her party was voted to power at the centre, in a bid to replicate her success in Uttar Pradesh at the national level.

Addressing a well-attended party rally at the Central stadium here, Mayawati, a prime ministerial aspirant, blamed the Congress and the BJP rule at the Centre for the plight of poor and the depressed, but spared Left parties, apparently keeping the post-poll options open.

Successive governments at the centre and states had diluted the reservation policy denying the rightful share in jobs to the depressed sections, she said. Accusing governments led by Congress and BJP of failure to tackle basic issues like price rise, she charged they had the financial backing of big corporates and land lords.

She said since her party is fighting elections with funds raised from the ordinary sections and hence such a government would be committed to pro-people policies.