E-Paper
After U.P. poll rout, BSP makes bid to regain Dalit base
After facing debacle in the 2022 U
After facing debacle in the 2022 U.P. assembly polls, the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) has again started banking on Dalit community while trying to win support of Muslims with an eye on the next general election.
Dalit leaders have been given important positions in the organisation and have been entrusted with the task of gearing up the party cadre for the 2024 Lok Sabha election.
These leaders, including Ghanshyam Chandra Kharwar, Bhim Rao Ambedkar, Akhilesh Ambedkar, Sudhir Bharti, Rajkumar Gautam, Madan Ram and Vijay Pratap, have been given important positions.
In the meeting of party leaders and office bearers held on June 30, BSP chief Mayawati rejigged the organisation by appointing party missionary leaders coming from Dalit community as zonal in-charges.
To win the support of Muslims, leaders belonging to the community, including Munkad Ali Shamshuddin Raini and Naushad Ali, were also made zonal in-charges of the party. Former minister and SP rebel Mohammad Irshad Khan, who enjoys influence over the Muslim community in central UP, joined the BSP on July 5.
On the other hand, Brahmin leaders, who earlier held important positions in the party organisation, have been sidelined. The dismal performance of the BSP in the U.P. assembly election indicated that Dalit- Brahmin social engineering formula did not work for the party.
To win the support of Brahmin community, the BSP had organised “Prabudh Varg Sammelan” across the state but could merely win one seat. Party’s Brahmin face Satish Chandra Mishra had addressed over 50 public meetings across Uttar Pradesh. Meetings were also organised in Brahmin-dominated seats but the BSP failed to make inroad into the Brahmin voters.
After the election, senior BSP leader Nakul Dubey was shown the door and other Brahmin leaders were also sidelined. Satish Chandra Mishra was not included in the list of party’s star campaigners for Azamgarh Lok Sabha bypoll, said a BSP leader.
Riding on the social engineering formula (Dalit-Brahmin), the BSP had come to power after the 2007 assembly election in Uttar Pradesh. The leaders belonging to the Brahmin community were given important positions in the organisation as well as government as the party planned to extend its base with the support of Dalit-Brahmin combination.
Despite BSP’s successive defeats in the 2012 and 2017 U.P. assembly elections, Mayawati maintained her trust in Brahmin community leaders. However, after the party’s defeat this time, the BSP chief changed the formula from Dalit- Brahmin to Dalit- Muslim alliance, the BSP leader said.
On Wednesday, the BSP chief left for Delhi where she will review the party’s preparations for the upcoming assembly polls in Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh in a meeting with state unit leaders.
