New Delhi, Jan 27 (IANS): BSP chief Mayawati Saturday asked the Rajasthan government to book social scientist Ashis Nandy and send him to jail for his comments linking OBC, STs and SCs to corruption while speaking at the Jaipur Literature Festival. She also demanded an apology from Nandy.

Talking to mediapersons here, the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) leader said Nandy's comments were wrong, baseless and unfortunate.

"Our party demands that the Rajasthan government should register a case and he should be sent to jail," she said.

She said the comments reflected casteist mindset and were made as part of a thought-out conspiracy to defame people from these communities.

Mayawati said the organisers should also immediately "throw out" Nandy from the festival for his "castiest remarks".

She said Nandy should immediately tender an apology.

Asked if the party will raise the issue in budget session of parliament, she said the party will take into account the steps taken by the Rajasthan government, the organisers and the "kind of apology" tendered by Nandy.

Nandy stirred up a row Saturday when he said that most of the corrupt in the country were people from the other backwards classes (OBC), the Scheduled Castes (SCs) and the Scheduled Tribes (STs).

"It will be an undignified, even vulgar statement. But it is a fact that most of the corrupt come from the OBC, the Scheduled Castes and now increasingly the STs and as long as it is the case, the Indian republic will survive," he said at a session titled "Republic of Ideas".

"I will give an example. The state of least corruption is West Bengal. In 100 years, nobody from the backward classes and SC and ST have come anywhere near power in West Bengal. It is an absolutely clean state," he said.

Nandy later clarified that he did not mean to hurt the sentiments of the country's disempowered groups with his comment about the equalising force of corruption.