Kharar/Nawanshahr, Jan 21
On her first election tour ahead of the Punjab Assembly polls on January 30, BSP supremo and Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati wooed upper caste voters, especially the poor and middle class.

Addressing rallies at Kharar and Nawanshahr, the BSP leader said while selecting the candidates for the Punjab elections, the concept of equality had been honoured by giving tickets to all sections of society. The candidates with clean image have been selected.

She played the Kanshi Ram card and his Punjab connection to call upon the voters to bring the BSP to power in Punjab.

Beginning her day with a rally at Kharar, Mayawati said the party has emerged as an alternative for the upper caste voters, especially those from the poor and middle classes, who were disenchanted with the Congress and the BJP as these parties had failed to address their basic issues.

It is due to the response of the upper caste voters in the state that the BSP has decided to go alone in the Assembly elections in Punjab, Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand.

During her 40-minute speech, she said that the party had introduced various reforms for the benefit of the poor and the down-trodden in Uttar Pradesh. She tried hard to sell the Uttar Pradesh model to her supporters, saying the capitalists and industrialists had been guiding the policies of the Centre and the aspirations of the common man were never kept in mind.

While addressing a rally at Saloh village (Nawanshahr) in favour of 31 candidates from Doaba and Majha belt, she reminded people of the dream of the BSP founder Kanshi Ram who wanted to see a BSP government in Punjab.

“Kanshi Ramji belonged to Punjab. His dream of seeing a BSP government in Punjab could not be fulfilled when he was alive. Let his dream be fulfilled now”, she appealed to those gathered while stressing that the time had come to bring the BSP to power.

Claiming she would replicate UP model of governance in Punjab, she listed schemes like giving three-acre land to landless farmers, Rs 1 lakh grant to girls when she attains the age of 18, Rs 400 monthly grant to the poor, allotting 25 per cent contracts to Dalits for development projects, free coaching for government jobs and free bicycles to class XI girls belonging to deprived sections.