Dalit vote: BSP wants Mayawati’s touch

Bahujan Samaj Party president Mayawati’s refusal to change with the changing times is proving to be the biggest hurdle in retrieving dalit votes for the BSP in Uttar Pradesh.

At a time when almost all major political parties are bending backwards to woo dalits, the BSP refuses to walk an extra mile and go beyond holding meetings and issuing press statements.

Ms Mayawati’s refusal to reach out to dalits at a personal level has now started leading to resentment in the party ranks.

On Ravidas Jayanti on Monday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited and offered prayers at the Ravidas temple in Shir Govardhan in Varanasi to make a conscious effort to woo dalits. He also joine din the community feast.

Delhi chief minister and AAP leader Arvind Kejriwal was also in Varanasi to offer tributes to Sant Ravidas.

The SP that, till now, had shied away from dalit icon, also held a programme in Lucknow on Monday to pay tributes to the 16th-century poet-saint and social reformer. This was the first time that the Samajwadis sang paeans to a dalit icon. The Congress also celebrated Ravidas Jayanti in a renewed effort to win over dalit votes.

The BSP, however, sent its second rung leaders to attend a Ravidas Jayanti programme in Varanasi but Ms Mayawati herself stayed away.

“If Ms Mayawati wants to regain lost ground among dalits, she will have change her ways and start moving out. Sending delegations and second rung leaders is no longer going to impress dalits. Even as chief minister, she has never visited families or individuals who have been struck by tragedies. As a leader in the opposition, she should start meeting people at the grassroots level,” said a former BSP leader.

In hushed tones, BSP leaders admit the party lost a “golden opportunity” to win back dalits by delaying its reaction to the suicide of dalit scholar Rohith Vemula in Hyderabad. “Ms Mayawati should have been the first leader to visit Hyderabad after the suicide. Instead, Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi grabbed the opportunity and reached there while the party sent a team, led by an unknown leader, a week after the incident and the impact was lost,” said a party functionary.

BSP MLAs feel that if Ms Mayawati starts venturing out of the confines of her home, office and Parliament, it would make a remarkable difference to the BSP. “Dalits continue to have a soft corner for the BSP but Ms Mayawati’s inaccessibility is working against the party. We are told that she has major security concerns but in politics, you have to step out of your ivory tower”, said a senior party MLA.