Award Bharat Ratna to Kanshi Ram or stop misleading Dalits: Mayawati to BJP

Mayawati on Friday hit out at the BJP over a party MP seeking the Bharat Ratna for Kanshi Ram, saying the saffron party, which is in power at the Centre, should either award the highest civilian honour to the BSP founder or stop "misleading" Dalits. BJP MP from Shahjahanpur, Arun Kumar Sagar, on Thursday demanded in the Lok Sabha that Kanshi Ram be conferred with the Bharat Ratna. Hailing Kanshi Ram as a 'Bahujan Nayak', Sagar said the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) founder was an ace politician and a social reformer who dedicated his entire life to the welfare of the downtrodden. BSP chief and former Uttar Pradesh chief minister Mayawati, in a post in Hindi on X, said if the BJP-led central government confers the Bharat Ratna on Kanshi Ram, the party would welcome it wholeheartedly. "Instead of a Dalit MP of BJP from UP demanding Bharat Ratna for BSP founder Shri Kanshi Ram ji, (the BJP) should immediately get it done as its government is in power at the centre and the BSP will welcome