Dalit leader Mayawati, whose Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) is contesting this month's Chhattisgarh Assembly polls in alliance with former chief minister Ajit Jogi's Janta Congress Chhattisgarh (JCC-J), Sunday accused the "casteist" BJP and the Congress of trying to "abolish" the reservation system. Addressing a rally in Taraud village in the Akaltara constituency in Janjgir-Champa, the BSP chief alleged that both the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the opposition Congress had worked towards making reservation "ineffective" and were trying to gradually "abolish" it."

"Dalits, adivasis and the other backward castes people have been getting the benefits of reservation, particularly in government jobs, as a result of the efforts of B R Ambedkar," Mayawati said. She accused the Congress and the BJP of having a "casteist mentality". "Right from the beginning, those parties had a casteist mentality...they have worked towards making reservation ineffective and (are trying to) gradually abolish it," the former Uttar Pradesh chief minister said.