Mayawati Accuses Bhim Army’s Chandrashekhar Azad Of Forcibly Getting Himself Arrested To Lure Dalit Votes

Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) chief Mayawati on Sunday (22 December) accused Bhim Army’s Chandrashekhar Azad of getting himself arrested in election-bound states to lure Dalit voters for rival parties.

Taking to Twitter, former Uttar Pradesh (UP) chief minister said most Dalits believed that he was conspiring against the BSP in states where the party had stronghold.

Azad was arrested by Delhi Police on Saturday after he took part in a protest against the newly amended Citizenship Act (CAA) and National Register of Citizenship (NRC) at Delhi’s Jama Masjid. He was later sent to a 14-day judicial custody in Tihar jail.

Mayawati, who claims to be the sole Dalit leaders, said, “For example, He is from UP. But, instead of protesting against the CAA and the NRC in UP, he deliberately gets himself arrested at a protest at Delhi’s Jama Masjid because the assembly elections are near there.”

Alerting her party members and supporters to be careful from such “selfish elements, organisations, and parties”, she said her party never accepts such people no matter how much they try.

Azad's Bhim Army, in recent years, has emerged as an effective Dalit organisation, which, as per analysts, should be a matter of worry to Mayawati, who is already struggling for her ground in UP and other states.

According to an India Today report, Azad had given a slip to the Delhi Police to reach Jama Masjid on Friday, and he was inside the mosque during the demonstration there.