BJP's Dhamma Chetna yatra a flop show, had RSS workers disguised as Dalits: Mayawati

BSP chief Mayawati on Friday termed BJP's 'Dhamma Chetna' yatra in Kanpur as a "flop show", claiming that RSS workers disguised as Dalits participated in the programme. "Dhamma Chetna Yatra has been taken out by some 'Baudh bhikshus', who have been managed by the BJP...the party is using religion to make electoral and political gains," she said in a release.

Hitting out at BJP's Dalit outreach programme, the BSP chief claimed that Dalits did not participate in the yatra, whose concluding session was addressed by BJP president Amit Shah in Kanpur on Friday.

She said BJP and RSS workers were made to participate in the programme "projecting them as Dalits." The 'baudh bhikshus' felicitated at the yatra were also the ones belonging to these organisations, the statement said. Mayawati said, "The BJP's Dhamma yatra was similar to Prime Minister Narendra Modi's attempts to do politics on a religious occasion like he did in Lucknow on Dussehra, in order to help his party which is in a very bad shape in the state".

The six-month long Dhamma Chetna Yatra concluded at Kanpur on Friday. Dalits, who have converted to Buddhism took part in the programme, where a few monks were also felicitated. The yatra is seen as yet another attempt by the BJP to reach out to the backward community in poll-bound Uttar Pradesh.