AGRA: In a move to woo Brahmin votes ahead of the 2022 assembly polls, Mayawati loyalist and BSP general secretary Satish Chandra Misra on Saturday said that Brahmins will not trust Akhilesh as they were “tormented during his tenure as much as they are harassed during the Yogi rule”.
Talking to media persons after addressing the party’s ‘Brahmin Sammelan’ in Mathura’s Govardhan, Misra said that no one can “forget what happened with Brahmins during the Samajwadi Party regime”. He said their situation under the SP regime was “very similar to now, as they were being harassed, insulted and killed for raising their voices against the BJP”.
“Not only Brahmins, Dalits, too, are being threatened and harassed by the present BJP reign,” Misra said. Referring to the Hathras girl’s rape case, Misra said it was just one example of “how the government did not allow the family to cremate the body of their daughter”.
The BSP general secretary said they (the Yogi government) even gave “a caste-ist twist to the encounter killing of gangster Vikas Dubey”. “Several Brahmins were targeted by the ruling party in Kanpur and nearby areas in connection with this incident,” he said, adding that their aim is to create fear among the community with an intent to force them to leave the state.
Maintaining that Brahmins should unite and not let their votes get divided on the basis of their gotras, Misra said a united “Brahmin force” can dictate terms as one gets their due on the basis of their strength – “Jiski jitni taiyyari… utni uski hissedari (one’s preparation determines one’s participation)”.
In the 2007 assembly elections, the BSP had given tickets to 80 Brahmins, of which 45 won the polls. A number of Brahmins were also made cabinet ministers. “We constitute 13% of the population in the state,” he added.
