LUCKNOW: After suffering one of the most humiliating electoral defeats in the recently concluded UP polls, an exasperated BSP chief Mayawati on Tuesday unleashed a fiery broadside against Samajwadi Party accusing it of having openly hobnobbed with the BJP.
Rubbishing reports about her party was in hand in glove with the BJP, Mayawati categorically remined SP patriarch Mulayam Singh Yadav about how he, during the oath ceremony of Yogi Adityanath in 2017, met BJP senior leaders including PM Narendra Modi and “ensured blessings for his son” and SP chief Akhilesh Yadav.
Without naming any leader. Mayawati added that Mulayam has now sent a “member” to the BJP “to get his job done”. As a matter of fact, in January, Mulayam’s younger daughter in law Aparna Yadav had joined the BJP. While Aparna was not given a ticket to contest UP polls, speculations have been rife about her being given a berth in the state cabinet before routing her to the legislative council.
Maya’s stunning salvos at the SP and BJP comes in sharp contrast to reports that the saffron outfit may invite her to the swearing ceremony of Yogi on March 25. She didn’t in 2017 either.
Experts said that the BSP supremo may have been critically stung by the marked reduction in her vote share from over 22% in 2017 to just over 12% this time. The reduction presumably indicated a sharp shift in her core Dalit vote base towards the BJP which stoked a high decibel bipolar electoral battle with the SP, which has traditionally been backed by Yadavs and Muslims.
Not surprisingly, Mayawati attempted to reach out to her core Dalit vote bank while rebuking the previous SP dispensation of being anti-Dalit. She said that the “Ambedkarites” will never forgive the SP which changed the name of schemes and projects specially meant for Dalits. Maya’s hard stance also comes days ahead of the 131st birth anniversary of Dalit icon BR Ambedkar.
