Mayawati raises issues of black money, corruption

Bhubaneswar, March 23 (IANS) The Bahujan Samaj Party chief Mayawati Sunday raked up the issue of black money stashed abroad in illegal accounts and said the money would have "solved the problems of our poverty and unemployment".

Addressing a rally here, she said a huge amount of black money was stashed abroad but neither the Congress, the Bharatiya Janata Party nor other parties at the centre made any efforts to bring it back.

"That money would have solved the problems of our poverty and unemployment," she said.

Highlighting the issue of corruption, Mayawati said corruption has increased manifold during the last few years in the country and it has hit the common man, the poor and the middle class.

Taking a dig at the right-wing parties and organisations over the issue of religious conversion, she said, "people of some opposition parties, especially those from the BJP and the RSS, visit here and motivate tribals and Dalits who have adopted Christianity to go for re-conversion".

"They say that the re-conversion will improve their social status and economic condition," she said.

"Changing religion will not improve your condition but changing the government both in the state and at the centre will," the former Uttar Pradesh chief minister said.