Launching a direct attack at the Bharatiya Janata Party and the Congress in poll-bound Uttar Pradesh, Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) chief Mayawati  said that the money from the state and central exchequers keep the two parties warm even in winters.

She said that her party, the BSP, has its own way of functioning and does not want to emulate other parties.

“When the Congress and the BJP are in power, be it at the Centre or in states, they hold public meetings one after the other just a couple of months before Lok Sabha elections. The money in the government exchequer, which is meant for the poor, keeps them warm in this cold weather. But, when these parties are not in power, they are just like us. They do not hold public meetings, attend inaugural ceremonies or lay foundation stones before the elections,” the former Uttar Pradesh chief minister said.

Her response came just two days after Union Home Minister Amit Shah said ‘Bahanji’, referring to Mayawati, was yet to come out into the cold.

“Elections are around the corner and she has not come out for campaigning. It seems that she is already afraid,” Shah had said during the BJP’s ‘Jan Vishwas Yatra’ in Moradabad, Aligarh and Unnao.

Commenting on the crowd assembled at Opposition rallies Mayawati said, “Half of them are government employees and the others are ticket seekers. We are seeing this in Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand and Punjab.”

The BSP supremo said that her party was of the poor and the oppressed, and not of capitalists.

“I am aware of the fact that if I copy other parties and hold public meetings one after the other, my people will not be able to bear the cost. If we copy them (rival parties), there could be losses due to paucity of funds during the elections. Our party has a different style of working as far as elections are concerned. We do not want to change this even if the rival parties ridicule us or the press writes about it. Other parties should not worry about us,” Mayawati said.