After Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) chief Mayawati announced a new outreach campaign to woo the Brahmin community, the Samajwadi Party (SP) said the community still remembered the “oppression” faced under her rule through “false” cases lodged under the SC/ST Act.
SP national secretary Abhishek Mishra accused Ms. Mayawati of remembering Brahmins only when polls approached. “The oppression meted out to Brahmins under her rule, the false cases lodged under the SC/ST (Act), the entire State, every section and every community remembers that,” he said.
Every community, especially the Brahmins, were with the SP and saw their future in Akhilesh Yadav, asserted Mr. Mishra. A Brahmin himself and a former Minister in the previous SP government in 2012-2017, Mr. Mishra said Mr. Yadav gave respect to the community at every step and added to their strength and progress.
“Take ‘inspiration’ from Dalits’’
On Sunday, Ms. Mayawati appealed to Brahmins to take “inspiration” from Dalits and remain “firm” in not falling for any lure or gimmicks deployed by other parties, especially the ruling BJP. She said she was “proud” that the Dalit community, to which she herself belongs, did not fall for any amount of lure they were tempted with by other parties, especially the BJP, in the last few elections. She claimed that Dalits voted one-way for her despite attempts to mislead them with money, visits to their homes by BJP leaders and ‘khichdi’ (meal).
To attract the community to her party and build consensus among them that their interests were secure only under a BSP government, Ms. Mayawati has deputed Satish Chandra Mishra, Rajya Sabha member and Brahmin face of the BSP, to start a campaign with special meetings with the community, starting July 23. The campaign will start from the politically sensitive town of Ayodhya, which has religious significance for Hindus.
