Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) President Mayawati on Wednesday launched a fresh attack on the Congress, holding it responsible for communal forces gaining strength in the country. The former Uttar Pradesh chief minister also accused the Congress of adopting double standards. "Communal forces in the country are becoming stronger because of the Congress Party's policy of double standards. Instead of weakening communal forces, the Congress party is engaged in weakening the forces raising their voice against it. People should remain careful," she said in a tweet. 

Six BSP MLAs join Congress

On Tuesday, Mayawati had slammed the Congress after the six BSP MLAs in Rajasthan joined the Congress. "The Congress Government in Rajasthan has once again broken BSP MLAs and proved that is an unreliable and untrustworthy party," she had said. The MLAs — Rajendra Guda, Jogendra Singh Awana, Wazib Ali, Lakhan Singh Meena, Sandeep Yadav, and Deepchand Kheria — met Rajasthan Assembly Speaker CP Joshi and informed him about their decision to join the Congress.

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Mayawati slams Congress

The BSP leader also termed this move as “betrayal of the BSP movement by the Congress.” She slammed the party in a series of tweets on Tuesday and said that instead of forming a strong opposition with the parties, the Congress has been betraying them. She also said that the Congress party has thus betrayed the SC, ST, and OBCs of the country. 

READ : BSP faces huge setback as all 6 Rajasthan MLAs quit and join Congress

Ashok Gehlot on Mayawati’s comments

Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot, while speaking to media at an event in Jaipur, said, "The BJP may have tried to buy the BSP MLAs. However, we are not like the BJP. In Karnataka, the BJP broke our party to form a government. They (six BSP MLAs) have collectively decided to join the Congress. Mayawati will have to understand that no one within the Congress government managed the BSP MLAs. They have joined on their own."

After the 2018 assembly elections in Rajasthan, the Congress fell short of a majority by a thin margin. The BSP, the party had won six seats then, extended her support to the Congress from outside i.e. BSP would support the Congress during the floor test but not be a part of the government. With the six BSP MLAs joining the Congress, there are chances that some of them will now be accommodated in the Cabinet. Earlier this year, 12 independent MLAs also extended their support to the Congress. With these 18 MLAs in its ranks, the Ashok Gehlot-led Congress Government now has a comfortable majority in Rajasthan.

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