Manamadurai: Slamming Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati for spending Rs 1,000 crore to install her own statues, Union Home Minister P Chidambaram has said the amount could have been used to provide basic amenities to the people and wipe out poverty.
"Of what use will be the statues in that state. The Rs 1,000 crore will help wipe out poverty of thousands of people, provide basic amenities and education," he said, addressing a meeting to thank voters of his constituency Sivaganga on Sunday night.
Pointing out that people all over the country had rejected caste politics, he said this was especially true in Bihar, Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh, "where 20 years of caste domination has gone".
"People like Mulayam Singh Yadav who were practising caste politics were rejected, though he was my friend. People there thought beyond caste politics and elected Congress, which is above caste politics and works for the people."
Voicing concern over role of "casteism" in elections in parts of Sivaganga, he told people to go by the Government's achievements, not by considerations like caste.
He said caste based parties had been dealt a 'death blow' in Tamil Nadu. "Though I regret the alliance with caste based PMK earlier, the party faced a rout in the recent elections."
"If the Congress Government did not achieve anything then you hit it with a semmatti (hammer) during the poll. You debate on what we have achieved and then vote," he said.
And BJP agrees with the Congress for once. BJP Spokesperson, Siddharth Nath Singh said, "What the Supreme Court has done is absolutely right. Spending Rs 2,000-3,000 crore is uncalled for. This is happening in a state where the health services and education is suffering."
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