After pitching for Dalit-Muslim unity, Bahujan Samaj Party chief Mayawati has now accelerated her outreach among the third key component of her electoral strategy for the 2017 Assembly elections — the Brahmins.
To lead the process, she has deputed her trusted lieutenant Satish Chandra Mishra, the fulcrum of her social engineering project in 2007. Even as she has been hit by a spate of desertions and rebellions, Ms. Mayawati believes the support of the three communities is enough to bring her to power — the “DBM” formula, as Mr. Mishra terms it. Dalits, Brahmins and Muslims together form 49 per cent of Uttar Pradesh’s electorate.
Over the next two months, Mr. Mishra, who recently returned to the Rajya Sabha for the third time, will address 45 sabhas across the State to draw in his community. All the 'sarvajan hitay, sarvajan sukhay bhaichara sabhas' or (brotherhood meetings) will be held in reserved constituencies with a sizeable Brahmin population.
The main pitch of Mr. Mishra’s rallies would be to remind the community of the space and power it enjoyed under the BSP government from 2007 to 2012 and that other parties have sidelined community leaders.
After addressing the first rally in Gorakhpur on Sunday, Mr. Mishra was confident that the Brahmins would stay with the BSP. “When our party came to power last time, we gave Brahmins the full chair... Today they came out in good numbers and it shows they are still with the BSP,” Mr. Mishra told The Hindu .
The BJP, he said, “deserted” the Brahmins. “They humiliated and removed their Brahmin State president (Laxmikant Bajpai). Murli Manohar Joshi was forced to retire. Kalraj Mishra is sitting with a zero portfolio and will be removed soon citing 75 years (age factor). They have completely sidelined Brahmins,” Mr. Mishra pointed out. He also targeted the Samajwadi Party, saying it had “insulted Brahmins and has never been with them.”
