Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) chief Mayawati on Saturday invoked the legacy of social reformer Jyotiba Phule to reinforce the party’s core social justice pitch while launching a direct attack on the previous Samajwadi Party over the renaming of districts created during her tenure.
In a statement issued on the occasion of Phule Jayanti, the BSP chief paid rich tribute to the 19th-century reformer, describing him as the “grand patriarch of social transformation” and a pioneering force behind women’s education and the uplift of the oppressed and backward classes.
Moreover, Mayawati also revived a long-standing grievance against the SP and sought to foreground the symbolic politics of identity that has historically been central to the BSP’s mobilisation strategy.
She specifically referred to the creation of Jyotiba Phule Nagar, now Amroha, and alleged that the subsequent SP government changed its name due to “narrow politics and caste-based prejudice”.
The BSP chief also recalled that her government had created several districts named after Dalit-Bahujan icons, including Kanshi Ram Nagar (now Kasganj), Ramabai Nagar (Kanpur Dehat), Bhim Nagar (Sambhal), Prabuddh Nagar (Shamli) and Panchsheel Nagar (Hapur).
She alleged that while the SP retained these districts, it stripped them of their ideological and symbolic identity by changing their names, describing the move as reflective of the party’s “character, conduct and face”.
{{/usCountry}}She alleged that while the SP retained these districts, it stripped them of their ideological and symbolic identity by changing their names, describing the move as reflective of the party’s “character, conduct and face”.
{{/usCountry}}The timing of the statement assumes significance as political parties in Uttar Pradesh begin calibrating their caste and community outreach well ahead of the 2027 contest. For the BSP, which is seeking to reclaim lost ground in the state’s shifting electoral landscape, the invocation of Jyotiba Phule, Savitribai Phule and Dr BR Ambedkar signals a return to its foundational social justice narrative.