Maurya’s move to BJP suicidal, says BSP leader

Chosen by BSP supremo Mayawati to replace Swami Prasad Maurya as Leader of the Opposition in the Uttar Pradesh Assembly, Daya Charan Dinkar has said the rebel leader’s decision to join the BJP amounts to ‘suicide’.

Mr. Maurya’s rebellion and subsequent ouster raised questions of the impact on the BSP’s support among the most backward castes, especially the Kushwaha community while the BJP claimed it had gained a valuable and vocal caste leader ahead of next year’s polls.

Speaking to

The Hindu , Mr Dinkar, however, said, “There is no loss. In fact, we will gain from it…Maurya got all the importance as he was entrusted with providing protection and leadership to his community. Now other leaders in his community, who he suppressed, will feel free to work. He has abandoned his core ideology and gone to the BJP, where the RSS rules — the opposite ideology. He is gone there to commit suicide.”

Mr. Dinkar’s selection reflects Ms Maywati’s return to her core voters, the Jatavs, constituting 56 per cent of the Dalit community in the State. Mr. Dinkar and Ms. Mayawati are both Jatavs. After Mr Maurya’s “betrayal”, the BSP chief has picked someone she believes is ideologically sound and trustworthy.

Hailing from Bundelkhand, Mr. Dinkar is a staunch Ambedkarite, close to the BSP chief and has been with the party since its inception. He was first elected an MLA in 1991, winning second and third terms in 1993 and 2002, respectively. From October 2002 to February 2003, he served as Minister of Rural Development in the Mayawati Cabinet. He is remembered for propounding ideas like the “ideal village.” In 2012, he won his fourth term.

An MLA from the Naraini seat in Banda, Mr Dinkar outlined the BSP’s preparations for the final session of the Assembly before the elections, scheduled for next week, and the 2017 elections. While the “bad law and order” under the SP government will be the core issue for his party, the BSP will also run a campaign to “expose” the alleged “pact” between the BJP and the SP, he said.

“The BJP and SP are involved in a noora kushti (fixed fight) and are trying to foment caste trouble and communal polarisation.”

Mr. Dinkar believes the party is set to return to power in the State. “A section of the media has kept the BJP alive. It has nothing to show on the ground,” he said.

Asked how the BSP plans to recover from the loss of Mr Maurya’s leadership, Mr. Dinkar said: “Go to the past. He is one MLA. Forty MLAs have at one go abandoned the BSP, and what happened in the next election? We came to power with a full majority. MPs and MLAs don’t run the BSP. Is it run by workers who want to establish a samta mulak .”