'Not allowed to speak' on anti-Dalit violence, Mayawati resigns from Rajya Sabha

NEW DELHI: Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) supremo Mayawati resigned from the Rajya Sabha on Tuesday, hours after she had threatened to quit the Upper House for "not being allowed to speak" about atrocities against Dalits and minorities. "I was speaking about the atrocities against Dalits, since I belong to that community. But treasury benches did not allow me to speak about that. How can I continue in such an environment?," Mayawati told mediapersons after handing over her resignation letter to the Chairman of the Rajya Sabha. "It is not good that I cannot speak in the House on issues close to me... When I got up to speak, the government did not allow me to complete. Since I was not allowed by the ruling party to raise these issues so, I have decided to give resignation from Rajya Sabha," she added. Backed by Opposition members, Mayawati had been speaking about the recent anti-Dalit violence in Uttar Pradesh's Saharanpur district in the Rajya Sabha, when Deputy Chairman P J Kurien asked her to curtail her speech, which was exceeding the three-minute duration. Miffed by the rebuke, a visibly-angry Mayawati then threatened to resign from the House. "I will resign from Rajya Sabha today... I have no moral right to be in the House if I am not allowed to put across my views on atrocities being committed against Dalits," Mayawati shot back at Kurien before storming out of the premises.