News Analysis India

Tag: Bahujan Samaj Party

  • Mayawati hails efforts to forge Hindu-Muslim unity at Muzaffarnagar farmers’ meet

    By PTI

    LUCKNOW: Bahujan Samaj Party supremo Mayawati on Monday welcomed the slogans raised for Hindu-Muslim unity at the farmers’ mahapanchayat in Muzaffarnagar, saying they would help heal the deep wounds caused by the 2013 riots in the district.

    There were reports that many farmers raised slogans calling for Hindu-Muslim unity at the mahapanchayat in the district on Sunday.

    “Efforts for Hindu-Muslim communal harmony in Muzaffarnagar district of UP during farmers’ mahapanchayat on Sunday will certainly help a little in healing the deep wounds of the horrific riots that took place during the SP government in 2013.

    It will also make many uncomfortable,” Mayawati said in a tweet in Hindi.

    Describing farmers as the pride of the country, the former Uttar Pradesh chief minister said with slogans of communal harmony raised at the farmers’ meet, “BJP’s political ground made with hatred has started slipping away”.

    The 2013 Muzaffarnagar riots had left at least 62 dead.

    Thousands of farmers from Uttar Pradesh and neighbouring states on Sunday gathered in Muzaffarnagar for the mahapanchayat and vowed to continue their stir till the three agri laws are scrapped.

    The event was organised by the Samyukt Kisan Morcha (SKM) which is spearheading the agitation since November last year.

  • Will ally only with small parties for Uttar Pradesh polls: Congress rules out tie-ups with SP, BSP

    Express News Service

    LUCKNOW: Congress has joined the group of political players who want to seek an alliance only with smaller parties as part of their strategy ahead of the 2022 Assembly polls in Uttar Pradesh.

    Uttar Pradesh Congress Committee president Ajay Kumar Lallu expressed the desire on Sunday to tie up with only smaller regional parties for the upcoming assembly elections.

    “The issue of joining hands with bigger players in Uttar Pradesh (UP) ahead of assembly polls is out of question for us,” Ajay Kumar Lallu while talking to media persons.

    However, the UP Congress chief expressed confidence that his party was set to make an impressive comeback after three decades of hiatus in UP politics.

    He substantiated his claim by saying that all the respective governments including that of SP, BSP and BJP had failed to live up to people’s expectations.

    Congress had its last government in undivided UP in 1989 with late ND Tiwari as their Chief Minister.

    However, the UPCC chief chose not to divulge the party strategy to make a comeback.

    Calling the Congress the “main challenger” to the BJP when Uttar Pradesh goes to the polls early next year, Lallu said his party was confident of forming the government in the state after contesting the elections under the leadership of Priyanka Gandhi Vadra.

    “We are moving forward as a strong opposition force and under the leadership of Priyanka ji, we will win the polls, and form the government in 2022,” said Lallu.

    Even the BSP and the SP have so far ruled out any alliance with Congress. While SP chief Akhilesh Yadav has already expressed his party’s choice of stitching an alliance with smaller parties, BSP supremo Mayawati has made it clear that her party would contest on its own in 2022.

    Earlier in the day, Lallu extended his support for the farmers protesting against the Centre’s contentious agricultural laws as they gathered at Muzaffarnagar in the state for the Kisan Mahapanchayat called by the Sanyukt Kisan Morcha.

    In the 2017 Uttar Pradesh assembly elections, the Congress managed to bag only seven seats while its ally SP secured 47 seats; the BSP won 19 seats.

    The BJP, meanwhile, won the elections with a thumping majority by clinching 312 of 403 seats legislative assembly to form the government.

  • BSP will extend support to protesting farmers in Haryana, MP: Mayawati

    The BSP will always stand with the genuine demands of the protesting farmers, and the party has been raising its voice for them both inside and outside Parliament, BSP chief Mayawati said.

  • Mayawati launches attack on Congress for defaming BSP in its booklet

    Express News Service

    LUCKNOW: While launching a broadside on Congress party for ‘defaming’ her party in a booklet released recently, Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) chief Mayawati claimed that she was fully fit to lead the party but whenever a successor would be appointed, he/she would be a Dalit.

    The BSP chief was interacting with the media persons here on Friday.

    Calling its condition precarious, Mayawati did not mince words in attacking the Congress party and claimed that it calls the paid crowd to its rallies. “Basically, the daily wagers are paid for the day and taken for the rally,” said Mayawati. She claimed that Congress was devoid of cadre and facing the paucity of candidates to contest elections in the states like Uttar Pradesh.

    “They hardly get candidates to contest elections in UP. Be it Zila panchayat, block chairman or even assembly polls, Congress pays money to people to contest election on its ticket,” claimed Mayawati while addressing media persons.

    With her party being busy preparing for the upcoming Assembly elections in UP and Uttarakhand early next year, Mayawati said that BSP was the only party that did not depend on donations from corporate houses and capitalists. “On the other, Congress takes financial assistance from corporate houses and in lieu of which they oblige the capitalists with Rajya Sabha seats,” added the BSP chief.

    ALSO READ  | Thackeray’s remark on Yogi made over insult to Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj: Sanjay Raut

    Mayawati claimed that her party gives tickets to those who could fight the elections on their own and were capable of increasing the clout of the party.

    Reacting to the booklet issued by Congress, the BSP supremo advised it to focus on its own shortcoming instead of pointing out the weaknesses of other parties.

    “Congress should put it own house in order rather than commenting on other parties,” said Mayawati. She added that the public would not believe Congress’s gimmick about other parties. “In Punjab, BSP and Akali Dal together preparing to ensure Congress ouster,” said the BSP chief.

    When asked about her successor, Mayawati said that she was fully fit and that the party was not in the need of her successor. “In the future, if my heath will not support me, I will appoint my successor from among Dalits. However, at present, I am capable of taking care of my party,” averred the BSP chief.

  • BJP govt misusing Covid curbs to scuttle BSP’s Brahmin sammelans: Mayawati

    Last month, the BSP, which counts on Dalit votes, began a series of quot;prabuddha varg sammelans quot; (intellectuals #39; meetings) to woo Brahmins ahead of next year assembly polls.

  • OBC quota in medical colleges late step aimed at electoral benefits, says Mayawati

    By PTI
    LUCKNOW: BSP president Mayawati on Friday said the reservation for OBCs in the medical and dental courses of government colleges came late and it is now being perceived as aimed at reaping electoral benefits.

    The Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) chief also said her party has been demanding filling up the backlog in the reserved category seats in government jobs, but the Centre and the government in Uttar Pradesh and other states have been indifferent to it.

    In a tweet in Hindi, the BSP chief said, “Declaration of OBC quota in all-India UG and PG seats of government medical colleges in the country is a very late step. Had the Centre taken the decision earlier, they would have benefitted a lot by now, but now people see this decision as having been taken to serve electoral interests.”

    ALSO READ | Government announces 27% reservation for OBCs, 10% quota for EWS in medical seats

    “Although the BSP has been continuously demanding filling up of the backlog posts of the SC, ST and OBC quota in government jobs for a long time, the governments of different states, including that of UP, and the Centre have remained indifferent towards the real interest and welfare of these sections. This is very unfortunate,” the former Uttar Pradesh chief minister said.

    The Centre on Thursday announced a 27-per cent quota for OBCs and 10 per cent reservation for the economically weaker sections in the All India Quota scheme for the undergraduate and postgraduate medical and dental courses from the current academic year, 2021-2022.

  • Eyeing UP polls, BSP plays Ram card in outreach to Brahmins

    By Express News Service
    LUCKNOW:  Eyeing a return to power in Uttar Pradesh with the support of Dalits and Brahmins the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) on Friday launched its ambitious Brahmin outreach initiative. The party held the first of six conventions of the Brahmin community in Ayodhya on Friday. 

    Addressing the gathering, which mostly comprised Brahmins, the BSP’s Brahmin face Satish Chandra Mishra recounted the party’s success in 2007 Assembly polls.

    He said that if 13% Brahmins and 23% Dalits united behind the party again along with support from other sections, a path will be open for the party to return to power in the state.

    Mishra alleged that around 400 Brahmins have been killed in the state since 2017 (when the BJP came to power).

    He cited Apple executive Vivek Tiwari’s September 2018 killing by the police in Lucknow.

    He also raised the issue of Khushi Dubey (widow of slain gangster Vikas Dubey’s nephew Amar Dubey), who was arrested by the UP Police in July last year in connection with the killing of eight cops by Vikas Dubey and aides in Bikaru (Kanpur) and is yet to get bail.

    “Right now there is an undeclared policy of Jaati Pucho Aur Phir Thoko (eliminate after asking the caste) in UP and the Brahmins have been the worst-hit by the present regime’s rule. The BJP thinks that the Brahmins are just made for carrying their bags,” Mishra alleged.       

    The BSP leader (who is second only to party president Mayawati in BSP hierarchy) said, “Lord Ram is a symbol of worship for us, while the BJP plays politics over the same Hindu god.”

    Questioning the slow pace of Ram Temple construction, the BSP leader said, “once BSP comes to power with full majority in Uttar Pradesh in 2022, the process of temple construction will be expedited.”

  • BSP’s love for Brahmins only election stunt, says suspended MLA

    By PTI
    BAHRAICH: Suspended BSP MLA Aslam Raini has termed the Bahujan Samaj Party as a “sinking ship”, and claimed that the party’s love for Brahmins is only an “election stunt”.

    “People from backward class, upper castes and minorities are no longer with the BSP.

    There was a time when prominent Brahmin leaders like Brajesh Pathak were there in the party.

    Today, the Brahmins will not board the sinking ship of the BSP in the name of Satish Chandra Misra,” he told reporters here on Sunday night.

    ALSO READ | Mayawati bets on Brahmin-Dalit combo for encore of ’07 show

    Raini claimed that he had spoken to Brahmins in Lakhimpur Kheri, Sitapur, Gorakhpur, Balrampur, Bahraich, Gonda and Shravasti and has been told that the Brahmin community will vote for the Samajwadi Party.

    “Apart from this, the members of the minority community will also vote for the SP, and Akhilesh Yadav will become the chief minister of Uttar Pradesh,” he said.

    In October 2020, seven BSP MLAs including Raini were suspended by party president Mayawati.

    They had opposed the nomination of party’s official candidate Ramji Gautam for the elections to the Rajya Sabha.

    On June 15, some of the suspended BSP MLAs including Raini had met Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav in Lucknow.

  • Mayawati bets on Brahmin-Dalit combo for encore of ’07 show

    By Express News Service
    LUCKNOW:  Fourteen years after BSP’s Dalit-Brahmin social engineering earned it a majority on its own for the first and the only time in Uttar Pradesh, the party on Sunday brushed dust off the formula to tap into the community’s disgruntlement over its perceived sidelining by a pro-Thakur Yogi Adityanath dispensation ahead of the crucial 2022 polls.

    Announcing the revival of the formula, party chief Mayawati said the Brahmin outreach would be spearheaded by her second-in-command and party general secretary Satish Chandra Mishra from Ayodhya, a key rallying point for BJP and allies.

    “I am confident that Brahmins will not vote for BJP in the next Assembly polls. A campaign under the leadership of our party general secretary Satish Chandra Mishra will be launched from Ayodhya on July 23 to connect with the Brahmins and assure them that their interests are safe only under the BSP’s rule,” Mayawati said.

    According to BSP sources, at least six Brahmin meetings would be convened across the state to attract the crucial Brahmin vote bank, which not only played a pivotal role in bringing BSP to power in 2007, but also ended the 16-year-old era of coalition politics in UP. Before 2007, the last majority government was headed by BJP’s Kalyan Singh in 1991.

    Sources said the spadework for the revival of the connect began six months ago, when Mishra sent out feelers to prominent Brahmin caste bodies in 70 out of 75 districts.

    The Bhaichara Committees (brotherhood) that played a key role in BSP’s social engineering by bringing under a common banner the SC, MBC, EBC and Brahmin votes, too, are being revived to win back the non-Jatav votes, which have moved to the BJP after the 2014 Lok Sabha elections.

    Joins call for oppn unityMayawati said Opposition parties should come together to hold the Centre accountable on its apathy towards farmers, among other issues. “BSP will raise fuel and LPG price, inflation and vaccination in the monsoon session of Parliament,” she said.

    Mayawati engineering revival amid grave existential crisis

    Reduced to a pale shadow of its former self, the BSP’s attempt to revive the formula might seem like a desperate attempt to remain relevant in UP, but according to political observers, it is a well calculated strategy to harness the Brahmin disgruntlement. However, the BJP hit back, alleging the BSP chief is “remembering” the Brahmins only because of assembly elections next year and is pursuing “opportunistic politics”.

    “Though the 10-12% Brahmin votes tilted the balance in BJP’s favour in 2017, the saffron party had galvanized the non-Yadav, MBC, EBC and the non-Jatav SC votes. The BSP senses an opportunity here as there is a disillusionment among the Brahmins towards BJP, particularly due to Yogi Adityanath’s pro-Thakur and anti-Brahmin image. The caste arithmetic can yield the party a solid vote block of 30-35% if it brings together Brahmin, SC and MBC/EBC votes. Then its task would be to woo the Muslim votebank (15-18%) to keep it from going over to Akhilesh Yadav-led SP,” an observer said. 

    The BSP, which finished second to Mulayam Singh Yadav-led SP in 2002 with 98 seats (23.06% votes), made major gains in 2007, by securing 206 seats with 30.43% vote share by eating into 3.11% BJP vote and 3% Congress vote, which were the traditional loyal Brahmin vote of the two parties. 

    The BSP’s 2007 winning Dalit-Brahmin social engineering, whose foundation was being laid by Satish Chandra Mishra since 2005, was popularized by slogans like Brahmin Shankh Bajayega Haathi Badhta Jaayega and Haathi Nahi Ganesh Hain Brahma Vishnu Mahesh Hain.

     “Out of the 206 seats won by BSP in 2007, 45-50 MLAs (22-24%) were Brahmins, including young leaders like Nakul Dubey, Rakesh Dhar Tripathi and ex-BJP man Rangnath Mishra. More than 10 cabinet ministers and 15 MLCs, too, were Brahmins, owing to which the BSP started being dubbed as Brahmin Samaj Party in 2007.

    But rampant corruption charges, high anti-incumbency and increase in cases of SC/ST Atrocities Act against upper castes, particularly alienated Brahmins from the BSP, resulted in the BSP losing the 2012 polls to young Akhilesh Yadav’s SP, which had young Brahmin leaders like tech savy ex-IIM Ahmedabad professor Abhishek Mishra. While the SP emerged a clear winner with 224 seats, the BSP plunged to just 80 seats (126 seats and 4.52% votes lesser than 2007 figure) which was lower than 2002 polls figures,” Lucknow based political commentator Anshuman Shukla said.

    The entire political landscape and caste dynamics of UP underwent a sea change with arrival of Narendra Modi brand of BJP politics in 2014, which not only won back the Brahmins, but created a solid vote bank of non-Jatav SC voters, non-Yadav OBC (including Patels, Mauryas, Lodhis, Kushwahas, Jats and Rajbhars) and upper caste, giving around 44% winning vote to the BJP. T

    The BJP’s success story continued in 2017 assembly polls with the BJP winning a record 312 seats on its own (SP just 47 and BSP only 19 seats) and also the 2019 polls. Meanwhile, Mayawati also said the BSP MPs will raise issues such as the rise in fuel and cooking gas prices and matters related to COVID-19 vaccination during the Monsoon session of Parliament which begins on Monday.

    Challenges before BSP

    Though it has annouced going solo in 2022 polls, it will be tough to win back its once loyal EBC/MBC vote, which BJP is trying best to retain and SP too is eyeing to cut into it via tie up with small parties.Entry of Dalit youth icon Chandrashekhar Azad Rawan’s Azad Samaj Party, particularly in West UP has dented BSP’s core vote in village panchayat polls.

    Firing of senior OBC leaders Lalji Verma and Ramachal Rajbhar from BSP hasn’t gone well with the Patel and Rajbhar caste voters.

    New alliance between ex BJP ally Suheldev Bhartiya Samaj Party and AIMIM might hurt BSP plans to woo back MBC and Muslim voters.

    BSP leadership decision not to contest recent district panchayat chairperson and block pramukh polls helped ruling BJP win easily in many places. It has sent the message of BSP having indirectly backed BJP.

  • Mayawati announces campaign to reach out to Brahmins, to be launched in Ayodhya on July 23

    By PTI
    LUCKNOW/BALLIA: Stepping up preparations for the UP Assembly election, Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) chief Mayawati on Sunday announced that a campaign will be launched from Ayodhya to reach out to Brahmin voters and urged the community not to be “misled” by the BJP.

    Speaking to the media here, she claimed the people from the “upper castes” were repenting voting for the BJP in the last state elections and said their interests will be safeguarded if her party comes to power.

    “A campaign, led by BSP general secretary Satish Chandra Mishra, will be started from Ayodhya on July 23 to awaken the Brahmin community once again.

    “The Brahmins will be assured that their interests will remain safe under the BSP regime,” the former chief minister and Dalit leader said.

    Mayawati’s Brahmin outreach was considered as one of the key factors for her win in the 2007 UP assembly election.

    The BSP chief said she is fully confident that the members of the “Brahmin community will not get misled by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)” and will vote for her party in the upcoming elections.

    The ruling BJP hit back, alleging the BSP chief is “remembering” the Brahmins only because of assembly elections next year and is pursuing “opportunistic politics”.

    On the agitation against the farm laws, the BSP chief said all political parties should come together and hold the Centre accountable.

    “The indifferent attitude of the Centre towards farmers protesting against the three farm laws is extremely sad. It is necessary that pressure is put on the Centre in Parliament,” she said.

    Mayawati alleged that there is rising unemployment and inflation, which is posing hardships to the people, due to the wrong economic policies of the central government.

    She said the BSP MPs will raise issues such as the rise in fuel and cooking gas prices and matters related to COVID-19 vaccination during the Monsoon session of Parliament which begins on Monday.

    “There are many issues on which the public wants accountability of the government,” she said.

    She claimed that people from the “upper castes” especially the Brahmin community are “feeling extremely sad as they had voted for the BJP and helped form its government for five years”.

    She also praised the Dalit community, saying it stayed united in the last assembly election and voted for her party.

    “I feel proud of the people of the Dalit community in the state who did not deviate, remained united, and voted for the BSP. As a result, in the 2017 UP Assembly elections, we may have got less number of seats, but our vote percentage stood at 22. 23, more than the Samajwadi Party’s 21.82 percent.”

    She said that not only the BJP but the Congress also had tried to “lure the Dalits by using different tactics”.

    “They ate ‘khichdi’ in the house of Dalits, although it was brought from their own house as they did not like the ‘khichdi’ cooked by the Dalits and brought from the home of the Dalits. Rath Yatra was also taken out,” she said.

    “A Congress leader tried to woo the Dalits by carrying a ‘taslaa’ (a utensil generally used in construction activities) full of soil on his head, and ‘Khaat Sabha’ was also organised, and drama enacted. All these are not hidden from anyone,” she said in a statement issued here.

    Meanwhile, reacting to Mayawati’s statement, UP minister for Divyaangjan Welfare and BJP leader Anil Rajbhar claimed the BSP chief is fighting for her political existence, and the campaign to reach out to the Brahmin community is an “example of opportunistic politics”.

    Rajbhar also claimed that the Brahmin community will give a befitting reply to the BSP in the 2022 UP Assembly polls.

    “BSP is remembering the Brahmins because of the election. BSP chief Mayawati does not have information about what is happening on the ground,” he told reporters.

    “She will never struggle for the problems being faced by the public, nor will she speak about the farmers. She never moves out (of her house) to know the condition of the Dalits. She does politics from her air-conditioned room via Twitter and social media,” he said.