Mayawati warns voters against ‘freebies’ and attractive poll promises

Bahujan Samaj Party chief Mayawati on Monday accused political parties of using “rewadis”, or freebies, and attractive promises to influence voters ahead of elections, warning people against what she called electoral “deception and betrayal”.

Addressing a meeting of BSP office-bearers in Lucknow, Mayawati said political parties frequently announced benefits, particularly for women, before elections but failed to fulfil their commitments after assuming power.

“Through ‘rewadis’ and various kinds of attractive promises and announcements offering private benefits, particularly to women, voters are sought to be wrongly influenced before elections. But after governments are formed, people across the country are witnessing repeated betrayal of promises,” she said.

The former Uttar Pradesh chief minister urged party workers to make voters aware of what she described as “open deception and betrayal”, allowing them to exercise their franchise independently and according to their own judgement.

Mayawati also said members of Gen-Z and Gen-Alpha were increasingly speaking out against policies they considered harmful to the public and were facing government action, including police cases.

“Along with the BSP’s struggle against continuous betrayal of promises, deception and irresponsibility towards public welfare after elections in different states, even Gen-Z and Gen-Alpha are coming out to fight against such anti-people policies and activities and are facing government repression, including police cases,” she said.

The BSP chief claimed that inflation, poverty, unemployment and economic backwardness had compelled many people from Uttar Pradesh to migrate in search of work.

Government measures announced to address these problems often appeared to be electoral tactics rather than substantive solutions, she alleged, describing them as “a drop in the ocean”.

“Ensuring public interest and welfare is the constitutional responsibility of every government and must be carried out every year, irrespective of elections,” Mayawati said.

She claimed that BSP governments in Uttar Pradesh had implemented development and welfare initiatives without waiting for elections or any “auspicious occasion”. The work undertaken during her tenures towards “social transformation and economic emancipation” remained unprecedented, she added.

During the meeting, Mayawati reviewed the BSP’s preparations for the forthcoming Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections, including the process of selecting candidates.

She also assessed the restructuring of organisational committees down to the polling-booth level following the Election Commission’s Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls. Office-bearers were directed to complete the remaining work within a fixed timeframe.

Mayawati asked party workers to accelerate their preparations in view of the changing political situation and counter what she termed the Opposition’s “despicable tactics” involving “saam, daam, dand, bhed”.

Expressing confidence in the party’s prospects, she claimed that the BSP would form the Uttar Pradesh government for a fifth time and deliver “the best rule of law” based on its principle of “Sarvajan Hitay, Sarvajan Sukhay”, or the welfare and happiness of all.

The BSP chief also issued directions for the observance of party founder Kanshi Ram’s death anniversary on 9 October in a “missionary spirit”.

She said this year’s programme would be held exclusively at the Kanshi Ram Memorial on VIP Road in Lucknow. People from western Uttar Pradesh and other parts of the state would gather to pay tribute to the BSP founder and pledge to complete his mission, she added.

Mayawati also expressed sorrow over the deaths and destruction caused by the floods in Nepal, including the loss of Indian lives, and extended her sympathies to the affected families.

She urged the Centre and the Uttar Pradesh government to provide all possible assistance to flood-hit communities, particularly those in the eastern part of the state.

“Otherwise, particularly in eastern Uttar Pradesh, the lives of people already suffering from poverty, hunger and exploitation through debt will become even more difficult,” she said.

Mayawati called for disaster-relief benefits to reach affected families immediately and stressed the need for a permanent solution to the recurring problem of annual floods.

With PTI inputs