Bahujan Samaj Party chief Mayawati on Thursday accused Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Adityanath of violating the ban that Election Commission imposed on the two politicians for violating the Model Code of Conduct. The 48-hour ban on Mayawati ended Thursday morning, while the ban on Adityanath will end on Friday morning.

Soon after restrictions on her ended, Mayawati criticised the Bharatiya Janata Party leader of visiting temples and eating lunch at a Dalit’s house in Ayodhya on Wednesday. “He is deriving electoral mileage by broadcasting them [the visits] on media, but the Election Commission is lenient on him. Why?” the Bahujan Samaj Party leader said on Twitter.

She further said: “If the Election Commission continues being lenient towards BJP leaders and turns a blind eye, then it will be impossible to have this elections free and fair...The BJP leadership is hell bent on indulging in these tactics, as it had been doing till now.”

Her tweets came while the second phase of Lok Sabha elections is being held, including in eight Uttar Pradesh constituencies.

She continued her attack on the BJP leadership saying the party and Prime Minister Narendra Modi are “nervous and jittery”, as the Congress had felt in the last Lok Sabha elections. “The real reason for this is the mindset which is against the poor, labourers, farmers, Dalits, backwards and Muslims,” she added.

The Election Commission, in its showcause notice to Adityanath, cited his speech where he had compared the ongoing elections to a contest between Ali, a revered figure in Islam, and Bajrang Bali, the Hindu god Hanuman. The Bharatiya Janata Party leader had also suggested that the Bharatiya Janata Party will win the elections as it has faith in Bajrang Bali.

Mayawati, the poll panel said, was penalised for her speech urging the Muslim community to vote for the alliance in the state and to not divide votes by choosing the Congress.