LUCKNOW: The BJP on Tuesday mounted a fresh attack on the Samajwadi Party leadership accusing it of not paying tributes to former UP CM Kalyan Singh fearing the loss of Muslim votes.
The charge was led by UP BJP chief Swatantra Dev Singh who said that SP chief Akhilesh Yadav did not come to pay homage to 'Babuji’ despite being just a kilometre away from his residence. “Was it because of the Muslim vote bank that he did not come to pay tribute to tallest leader of backward castes,” Singh questioned. BJP MP from Unnao, Sakshi Maharaj said that Akhilesh “insulted” the backwards by not paying tributes to Kalyan. Deputy CM Keshav Maurya too said that the SP has lost the right to speak about the OBCs. BJP’s jibe at the SP leadership came a day after its MP from Kannauj, Subrata Pathak, said that the sin of firing at kar sevaks would have been washed away to an extent had Mulayam Singh Yadav and Akhilesh come to pay tributes to Kalyan Singh.
It is believed that as SP joined hands with Kalyan, who had quit BJP the second time, in 2009 LS polls, a big chunk of Muslim votes drifted towards Congress, resulting it its success on 21 seats.
Political experts interpreted BJP’s jibe at the SP as an attempt to draw a defining line to isolate the SP leadership which has been making an outreach at Brahmins.
Experts said BJP’s offensive was also steered by BSP chief Mayawati’s presence who reached Kalyan's grandson Sandeep Singh's residence to pay her tributes to the leader on August 22.
