Mayawati plays caste card, accuses Centre of scuttling development projects

Gonda (UP), Feb 4 (ANI): Attacking the Congress party, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati has alleged that the Central Government has scuttled development projects due to her low caste.

Addressing an election rally in Gonda, Mayawati said: "The Central Government has discriminated against my government on the basis of caste and refused to give permission for many projects which could have benefited the people of the state."

Hailing her Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP)-led state government, Mayawati said: "My government has done many historic and extremely important works in order to bring development and strengthen law and order situation in the state, which has not been done by any state government combined if compared over the past years."

"To support this with an important example is the increase in Uttar Pradesh's development rate which has been raised from a poor three percent to seven percent due to the tireless efforts of my party," she added.

She urged people to be careful in choosing which political party to vote for in order to maintain development of the state.

"If due to your carelessness and immaturity the Samajwadi Party comes back to power then once again the goons of the outfit would reign in the state," she added.

Polls in Uttar Pradesh are being viewed as an opportunity for major parties to re-establish their foothold in the country's fifth largest and most populous state.

Polls in Uttar Pradesh will be conducted between February 8 and March 3, and counting will take place on March 6.

A new 403-member state assembly will be elected in March. The poll results will broadly indicate trends for the 2014 general elections. (ANI)