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Mayawati appoints Vishwanath Pal as BSP’s Uttar Pradesh chief
Pal replaces Bhim Rajbhar who was appointed to the post in November 2020 and has now been made coordinator in Bihar.
Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) chief Mayawati on Tuesday appointed Vishwanath Pal, as its new president in Uttar Pradesh.
Pal replaces Bhim Rajbhar who was appointed to the post in November 2020 and has now been made coordinator in Bihar.
“The organisational change has been made in view of the present political situation. That’s why Vishwanath Pal, a native of Ayodhya district, has been made BSP new UP president,” tweeted BSP chief Mayawati.
Congratulating Pal, Mayawati said, “Vishwanath Pal is a party missionary and an old, diligent and faithful worker. I am sure that he would mobilise support of the most backward castes with the BSP and work wholeheartedly to increase the mass base of the party. He will definitely be successful in his work.”
She said: “The former BSP state unit president Bhim Rajbhar worked with full honesty and loyalty for the party, for which the party is grateful. The party has made him the coordinator of Bihar state.”
The change of the state unit president is seen as the Mayawati’s strategy to mobilise the support of the extremely backward caste (EBC). The BSP is working on Dalit-Muslim-EBC formula for the 2024 Lok Sabha election. Viswanath Pal belongs to ‘gadariya’ community settled in the central and east UP region. He was chief sector coordinator of Ayodhya, Mirzapur and Prayagraj division.
“Pal joined the BSP as a party worker and served on the various posts in the party. He belonged to Ayodhya region that is considered stronghold of the BJP and shares border with Ambedkar Nagar, once a strong fort of the BSP where due to defections of senior leaders to the rival SP, the BSP lost all the seats in the district in the 2022 assembly election. By making an EBC leader as the state chief, the party’s national president is trying to regain the lost ground in the region, said a BSP leader.
Other BSP leaders also said by promoting an old and committed party worker as the party’s UP chief, Mayawati was trying to give a message to the cadre that loyalty and hard work will be rewarded.
In November 2020 Mayawati had appointed Bhim Rajbhar as the state unit president but rebellion of senior leaders Ramachal Rajbhar and Sukhdev Rajbhar before the 2022 assembly election threw a spanner in Mayawati’s plan to get the support of the Rajbhar community. Bhim Rajbhar lost the assembly election from Mau Sadar seat. The BSP only bagged a solitary seat in the 2022 UP polls.
