BJP, BSP to reach flashpoint on Ambedkar Jayanti

The BJP-BSP collision course over the dalit votes in UP will reach a flashpoint on Ambedkar Jayanti on April 14. The BJP will be celebrating the occasion with “Samrasta Bhoj” (community feast) in the villages while the BSP is planning to hold a rally in Lucknow to mark the occasion. The BSP may opt for smaller meetings in every village if it feels that its proposed rally may not attract the expected crowds. Last month, the BSP had to cancel its rally in Lucknow on the Kanshi Ram Jayanti, mainly due to the poor response of the people citing the excuse that Ms Mayawati was busy with the Parliament Session in Delhi.

The BJP, meanwhile, is going full-steam with its plans to wean away dalits from the BSP. A senior party leader will participate in the Samrasta Bhoj and break bread with the “poorest of the poor” in the villages. “The BSP may claim to be the custodian of dalit votes but Ms Mayawati, despite being a dalit herself, has never shared a meal with the poor and dalits. We want to highlight the fact that though the BSP rides to power on the strength of dalit votes, the biggest caste discrimination is present within the party. Ms Mayawati happily attends various functions in the home of Mr Satish Chandra Misra but has she ever attended a wedding in the home of a dalit ”” asked the BJP functionary.

Sources said the RSS volunteers will play a key role in organising the community feasts and will also help the BJP is focusing on the anti-dalit character of the BSP. “We will ask our guests how many of them have received monetary assistance for their daughters’ marriage during the Mayawati regime and how many got free medical treatment through the BSP MLAs. We are also preparing a list of atrocities committed on dalits during the Akhilesh Yadav regime and will ask them whether the local party leaders took up the issue”, the functionary said.