Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) president Mayawati on April 2 hit out at the Samajwadi Party (SP) for trying to manipulate Dalit voters in the name of BSP founder and Dalit leader Kanshi Ram.
Ms. Mayawati said the long history of the SP’s caste-driven hatred and malice towards Dalits was well known.
“Samajwadi Party’s history of hatred and political malice towards Dalits, Extremely Backward Classes (EBCs) and their icons Baba Saheb Dr. Bhimrao Ambedkar and Kanshi Ram is in front of the people. That is why the guest house incident took place in the year 1995 and the alliance of both parties broke down. SP’s anti-Dalit character and face is not hidden from anyone,” Ms. Mayawati said in a press release, after chairing a meeting with top party functionaries and 75 district presidents of the BSP.
Ms. Mayawati was referring to the June 1995 attack by SP workers on a Lucknow guest house where she was holding a meeting with her party leaders. The incident happened after the BSP pulled out of the then ruling alliance.
The former Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister added that due to the ill will towards Dalits, the SP tore the reservation in promotion Bill.
The statement by Ms. Mayawati comes in the backdrop of SP chief Akhilesh Yadav’s upcoming visit to Rae Bareli on Monday, April 3, where he is scheduled to unveil a statue of Kanshi Ram.
The visit is seen as an attempt by the SP at reaching out to the Dalit community which used to be the core voter base of the BSP but is seen to be getting disillusioned with the party since the 2022 Assembly election.
The BSP chief said if the SP had worked along the ideas of Kanshi Ram, the SP-BSP alliance would have been ruling in the country.
Ms. Mayawati also gave instructions to party leaders to work on a war footing to make the BSP victorious in the upcoming civic body polls. “Party leaders should get ready for the local bodies elections. Selection of candidates needs to be done strategically keeping in mind the larger interest of the public,” she said.
