Mayawati's 60th birthday to be low-key affair

The 60th birthday of Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) leader Mayawati on January 15 will be celebrated as 'Jankalyankari Diwas' (public welfare day), party leaders said on Monday.

This is in sharp contrast to the extravagance of yesteryears when her birthday was marked by garlands of currency notes offered to Mayawati and cakes flown in from the best bakeries abroad.

Directives to keep the event simple and connect with the common people were given by Mayawati when she met senior party leaders, zonal and divisional coordinators here on Monday.

She also asked party office bearers to ensure that there was "nothing loud" to mark her 60th birthday.

She also asked party leaders to further strengthen the hold over the Dalit base and also reach out to other castes, especially the Thakurs and Brahmins who helped her gain a majority in the 2007 assembly polls.

The BSP did exceedingly well in the recent panchayat elections.

Many in the state see this as reversal of fortunes for the BSP, which not only badly lost the assembly polls to the Samajwadi Party in 2012 but also drew a blank in the 2014 Lok Sabha polls.