Mayawati Alleges BJP Confusing People With Population Issue, Terms It Deviation From Real Issues

BSP supremo Mayawati on Wednesday accused the BJP of confusing people on the issue of Population control and deviating from “real priority.”  

She was apparently referring to Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath's statement on Monday, who said that population “imbalance” in the country can lead to anarchy.  

"At a time, when the people are limiting their needs and are forced to lead a stressful life singed by extreme poverty and rising unemployment, is it wise of BJP to confuse people with long term issues like population control?" said Bahujan Samaj Party chief in a tweet in Hindi from her official handle.  

"Population control is a long-term policy issue, which needs more awareness than law, but instead of paying attention to the real priority of the country, the BJP governments are choosing devious and controversial issues. 

"In such a situation how can the best of public interest, the country's interest be possible? People are sad and restless," she said in another tweet.

In an apparent reference to the Muslims, Adityanath had on the World Population Day said that population control programmes must not lead to an "imbalance." 

Several BJP leaders have spoken against the rising population of the country, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who in one of his Independence Day speeches, had suggested taking measures against what he then termed a “population explosion.”

According to the UN, India’s Total fertility Rate (TFR) has come down from 5.9 children per woman to 2.2 children per woman in 2020, just shy of 2.1 replacement level fertility.  

Replacement level fertility is the TFR at which population exactly replaces itself from one generation to the next, without migration.

(With PTI inputs)