Uttar Pradesh chief minister Mayawati on Friday trained her guns on Congress General Secretary Rahul Gandhi for allegedly refusing to have a meal in a Dalit's home, where he spent Thursday night, during the course of his four-day old padyatra in parts of Western Uttar Pradesh.
The UP chief minister's political spokesman issued a statement on her behalf on Friday evening.
Terming his 'padyatra' as a "gimmick" and "melodrama", the statement said, "Rahul spent last night in the home of Uday Vir, a Dalit belonging to the 'kanjar' sub-caste in Marodgarhi village; but he preferred to get his food from outside and even his personal staff and security personnel chose to eat at the local village head's home."
"This clearly depicts that Rahul is anti-Dalit and has simply been staging a drama by sleeping in the homes of Dalits with whom he avoids eating a meal?" the spokesman said.
Further hitting out at the Gandhi scion for raising the pitch about farmers' problems in parts of Uttar Pradesh, the spokesman sought to point out, "Why doesn't he go to the Congress-ruled states where farmers were getting a raw deal."
Reacting to Rahul's repeated attacks on the state's law and order situation, reflected in the spate of rapes over the recent past, the spokesman asked, "If he is really concerned about women's security, then why did he not care to visit the poor women who have been raped in Congress-ruled Delhi or Haryana?"
