Poster in UP shows Mayawati as Shurpanakha

A new poster that has popped up in Allahabad is bound to widen the caste divide and fuel the ongoing BJP-BSP war in the state.

The new poster has been put up by student Anurag Shukla who admits his affiliation to the BJP.

“The poster depicts state BJP president as Lord Ram and expelled BJP leader Dayashankar Singh as Laxman while Swati Singh is shown as Durga. Ms Mayawati is depicted as Suparnaka, the sister of Ravana whose nose was cut off by Laxman,” he told reporters.

The Ravana in the poster is BSP leader Naseemuddin Siddiqui, who led the protests against Dayashankar Singh in Lucknow on July 21.

The most interesting part of the poster is the depiction of former BSP leader Swami Prasad Maurya as Vibhishan, the younger brother of Ravana who was instrumental in the latter’s defeat.

Explaining further, Anurag Shukla defended the statement made by Dayashankar Singh against Ms Mayawati. “The word that he used to refer to Mayawati meant one who does business and giving tickets in return for money is also a kind of business. If the BSP feels that the word is an abuse then why did they use abusive language against Dayashankar’s daughter ” he said.

“Besides, if Dayashankar has been expelled and is facing an FIR, Ms Mayawati should also face similar action”, he added.

Meanwhile, the BJP has distanced itself from the poster politics.

“State BJP president Keshav Maurya has already instructed party workers not to bring out such posters. We do not know who are the people responsible for this but they are not from the party,” said state general secretary Vijay Bahadur Pathak.