Why can't I be PM? Maya demands to know

Agra: Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati on Tuesday made it clear she wanted to be the Prime Minister and said a Dalit must get the post.

"If the Congress and BJP can make any person Prime Minister, why can't a Dalit's educated daughter be Prime Minister," said Mayawati, chief of the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), at an election rally in Agra minutes before campaigning for the fourth round of general elections ended on Tuesday.

"Today, everybody wants to become the Prime Minister of the country," she said. "Strengthen our hands and vote for BSP candidates if you want a pro-poor government at the centre."

In her 45-minute speech, Mayawati spoke about the party's policies on price rise, poverty, unemployment and job and education reservations.

Mayawati alleged her government had sent plans for Rs 80,000 crore worth of projects but the Congress-led Central government had not given her money for Uttar Pradesh’s development. "Power had gone in the hands of wrong people at the centre," she alleged.

Mayawati said a BSP government at the Centre was necessary of the welfare of 'Sarvjan Samaj' (all sections of society). She promised that if the BSP comes to power at the Centre, news states would be created comprising Bundelkhand and eastern and western Uttar Pradesh.