http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/05eec830-9b1b-11dd-a653-000077b07658.html
'Dalit queen' rounds on Sonia Gandhi By James Lamont in New Delhi Published: October 16 2008 03:00 | Last updated: October 16 2008 03:00 Mayawati Kumari, the champion of India's lower castes, took to the country's air waves yesterday to launch a bold attack on Sonia Gandhi, president of the ruling -Congress party. The high profile salvo has set the stage for what promises to be a bitter battle between their parties in both state elections next month and general elections next year. Ms Mayawati, the chief minister of Uttar Pradesh, accused Mrs Gandhi of deceiving poor villagers and orchestrating a campaign to starve India's most populous state of funds and development. She also criticised Mrs Gandhi's party for making false promises of jobs ahead of a general election and of hatching a political conspiracy against her. "I want to ask Sonia Gandhi and the Congress party, how many young people have been employed in their tenure over the past four years," she said. "The central government is just not interested in all-round development as it has still not released a penny of the Rs800bn ($16,5bn, €12bn, £9.4) package we sought for the upliftment of [Uttar Pradesh]." The attack is one of the fiercest mounted against Mrs Gandhi. India's politicians have traditionally been respectful of the widow of Rajiv Gandhi, the prime minister assassinated in 1991. They also tread sensitively around her Italian origins, which has allowed her to assimilate herself into India's political leadership. The Congress party re-spond-ed angrily, saying Ms Mayawati was indulging in "dirty politics" and spreading a "pack of lies". Multiple bomb attacks across the country and -rising inflation have put the Congress party-led government on the defensive against the Bharatiya Janata party, the main Hindu nationalist opposition, and the lower caste parties. Ms Mayawati, dubbed the 'Dalit queen', is leader of the Bahujan Samaj party (Majority People's party), a movement for former untouchables, now known as Dalits. She is viewed as a fast-growing power in Indian politics and a force against the Gandhi-Nehru political dynasty. The studied nature of yesterday's broadside, delivered from notes at a press conference in Lucknow, showed her confidence and considerable political ambition to take a top job in a future government. The struggle is all the more potent because it surrounds Mrs Gandhi's own constituency of Rae Bareli, near Lucknow. The constituency is traditionally the political seat of the Gandhi family. The two women are at loggerheads over a plan to build a rail coach factory, which would bring thousands of jobs to the area. Ms Mayawati has withdrawn 400 acres allotted for the factory, arguing that farmers were not happy to lose their land. Her move is currently under high court review. On Tuesday, the Congress party claimed that Uttar Pradesh state authorities under Ms Mayawati's orders had tried to deny Mrs Gandhi access to her constituency to hold a rally in support of the development. ------------------------------------ ---- INFORMATION OVERLOAD? Get all ZESTCaste mails sent out in a span of 24 hours in a single mail. Subscribe to the daily digest version by sending a blank mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED], OR, if you have a Yahoo! Id, change your settings at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ZESTMedia/join/ PARTICIPATE:- On this list you can share caste news, discuss caste issues and network with like-minded anti-caste people from across India and the world. Just write to [email protected] TELL FRIENDS TO SIGN UP:- If you got this mail as a forward, subscribe to ZESTCaste by sending a blank mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] OR, if you have a Yahoo! ID, by visiting http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ZESTCaste/join/ Also have a look at our sister list, ZESTMedia: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ZESTMedia/Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ZESTCaste/ <*> Your email settings: Individual Email | Traditional <*> To change settings online go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ZESTCaste/join (Yahoo! ID required) <*> To change settings via email: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
