Mayawati plays caste card ahead of Uttarakhand polls

Rudrapur, Jan 25 (ANI): Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) supremo and Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati has urged the people of Uttarakhand to elect a party that is focussed on the needs of the lower castes

ddressing a rally here on Tuesday, Mayawati said that all political parties, including the Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) had failed to tap the needs of minorities in the country.

"It is sad to see that after all these years of independence, the economic condition of the poor and downtrodden people of society, especially those of lower castes including scheduled castes, scheduled tribes, other backward classes and even the minorities like Sikhs, Muslims, Christians has not seen much improvement," Mayawati added.

Raising the issue of rising inflation in the country, she said her party had repeatedly asked the Congress party to focus on the needs of the many rather than some industrial power houses.

"Due to the incompetent economic policies of the government inflation in the country has risen to new levels that has put a heavy burden on the poor and middle classes all over the country, including Uttarakhand. In this regard, our party has repeatedly urged the federal government to adopt the economic policy that would provide growth to the people of this country, rather than some selected industrialists," Mayawati added.

Political mercury is at a high in poll-bound Uttarakhand state, where the main fight is between the current incumbent Bharatiya Janata Party and the Congress Party.

Polling for the Uttarakhand legislative assembly would be held on January 30. (ANI)