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Uttar Pradesh: SP working on BSP tactics to regain hold over OBC
With a view to regaining its hold over the Other Backward Class (OBC), the Samajwadi Party (SP) is working on the tactics adopted by the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) in the early eighties to consolidate its hold over the dalits and Extremely Backward Caste (EBC)
With a view to regaining its hold over the Other Backward Class (OBC), the Samajwadi Party (SP) is working on the tactics adopted by the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) in the early eighties to consolidate its hold over the dalits and Extremely Backward Caste (EBC).
The BSP founder Kanshi Ram had launched a tirade against the upper castes and Hindu scriptures to unite dalits and to break the hold of the Congress over the Scheduled Caste voters in Uttar Pradesh. The slogan “Tilak, tarazu aur talwar…. Inko maro jute chaar, Brahmin, Thakur, Bania chor, baaki sub hain DS-4” used to be raised in public meetings of the BSP to mobilise the Dalit community then.
Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav on Saturday slammed the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) stating that for the BJP the dalits and the backwards were ‘Shudras’ (untouchable). “We are non-existent for them and have no identity,” he said. Earlier, raising objections over the verses of Ramcharitmanas, SP national general secretary Swami Prasad Maurya had alleged that the epic was anti-OBC and anti-dalit and was drawing flak from seers and religious leaders.
Interestingly, the five erstwhile top BSP leaders, including Swami Prasad Maurya, Lalji Verma, Ramachal Rajbhar, Indrajit Saroj and Tribhuvan Dutt, considered followers of Kanshi Ram’s ideals have joined the SP. In the recent organisational reshuffle, Maurya, Verma, Rajbhar and Saroj have been made national general secretaries of the party while Dutt has been made the general secretary.
Famous as rabble-rousers of the BSP, the five leaders usually used to be in the forefront leading the attack on rival parties to mobilise dalits and OBC. After the BSP rebels joined the SP, Akhilesh Yadav had said the party will work on the ideals of Dr Ambedkar and Dr Lohia to spread its support base in Uttar Pradesh. Along with the OBC, the SP will work to win the support of the Dalit community. The interest of the dalits and OBC is safe in the SP while the BJP is using them to serve its vested political interests, he said.
Indicating a shift from earlier formula, BSP chief Mayawati on Monday alleged that the recent controversy over epic Ramcharitmanas clearly showed a collusion between the BJP the SP to polarise people on caste and communal lines before the upcoming elections. “The SP adopting the political colour of BJP under the guise of ‘Ramcharitmanas’ is sad and unfortunate,” she said.
Political observer SK Srivastava said, “In the early eighties, BSP founder Kanshi Ram made an emotional appeal to dalits by pitching them against the upper caste. The strategy worked as the BSP was able to wean away the dalits from the Congress and turned them into its core support base. In the consecutive assembly elections, the BSP failed to form government on its own strength.”
“After taking over the reins of the party, Mayawati worked on social engineering formula to win the support of the upper caste. Slogans like Hathi nahi Ganesh hain, Brahma, Vishnu Mahesh hain as well as Brahmin Shankh Bajayega, hathi Dilli Jayega were raised in the BSP rallies. The BSP formed majority government in the state in 2007. After consecutive defeats in assembly and Lok Sabha elections, the BSP is now working on Sarva Samaj (brotherhood of all communities) to regain its lost base in Uttar Pradesh,” Srivastava added.
“After facing debacle in the 2017 assembly and 2019 Lok Sabha polls, the SP is working to regain its hold over the OBC and EBC. It is also trying to check the inroad made by the BJP among the non-Yadav OBC voters. To counter BJP’s Hindutva agenda to retain power in the 2024 Lok Sabha election, the SP is using the old Mandal formula by pitching the OBC against the upper castes. The SP hopes to consolidate its hold over the OBC and EBC before the crucial 2024 Lok Sabha election,” he said.
