In remarks that should end any speculation around the Bahujan Samaj Party switching sides in the event of a hung assembly and joining forces with the Bharatiya Janata Party post the declaration of Lok Sabha election results on May 23, party supremo Mayawati today launched a no-holds-barred attack against Prime Minister Narendra Modi, accusing him of playing “dirty politics” and leaving his wife for “political gains.”

“Narendra Modi was silent on Alwar gangrape case. He’s trying to play dirty politics over it. So that in the elections his party can be benefited. It is extremely shameful. How can he respect others’ sisters and wives when he has left his own wife for political gains?” Mayawati said at a press conference on Monday.

Going further with her crass personal attack, the 63-year-old former Uttar Pradesh chief minister said, “Mujhe toh yeh bhi maloom chala hai ke BJP mein khaas kar vivahit mahilayen apne aadmiyon ko Shri Modi ke nazdeek jate dekh kar, yeh soch kar bhi kafi zyada ghabrati rehti hai ke kahin yeh Modi apne auraat ki tarah humein bhi apne pati se alag na karwa de. (I have also come to know that in the BJP, married women fear that when they see their husbands getting close to Mr Modi that and he could influence their husbands to separate from them just like he left his own wife.)”

Mayawati’s scathing attack comes a day after PM Modi, while addressing rallies in Deoria and Kushinagar on Sunday, accused her of shedding ‘crocodile tears’ and dared her to withdraw support to the Congress-led Rajasthan government after a Dalit woman was gang-raped on April 26. Just hours after PM Modi’s attack, Mayawati invoked the Rohit Vemulla and Una flogging cases and asked why was the prime minister did not resigning over these incidents.

There was a buzz in certain sections of the media that the BJP could reach out to woo Mayawati in case the NDA falls short of a majority in the general elections. However, all such speculation was laid to rest when Mayawati launched such a personal attack against PM Modi. The attack is also Mayawati’s clear message to the BJP that it will stick with Akhilesh Yadav’s Samajwadi Party come what may.

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The Alwar gang-rape case
Widespread outrage followed when a woman was gangraped in front of her husband and the clip of the crime was circulated by her attackers. Last week, the husband of the woman who was gangraped on April 26 alleged that the police did not register their case until the first week of May as Rajasthan was voting on April 29 and May 6.

While the police have said they have arrested all the accused in the crime – including Indra Raj Gurjar, Hansraj Gurjar, Ashok Gurjar, Mahesh Gurjar, Mukesh Gurjar and Chhote Lal Gurjar – the National Commission for Scheduled Castes has demanded that a criminal case be filed against police officers who allegedly delayed acting on the case.

With the elections underway, the Alwar gangrape case has also evolved into a political slugfest between the centre and the opposition allies. The Congress government had came to power in December last year and is headed by Ashok Gehlot with Sachin Pilot as his deputy.