Bsp To Field More Upper Castes, Muslims: Mayawati

Admitting that it is not yet its turn to form the government, the pro-Dalit Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) says it will mobilise support among the upper castes to be able to rule the country by the turn of the century after another snap poll.

Former Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati has said her party would no longer focus on the Dalits alone, adding that the BSP was planning to field a much larger number of candidates from the upper castes against whom BSP leaders once spewed venom at public rallies.

The idea is to reinforce our point that we are not just a Dalit party, but we are committed to the well being of the community as a whole, Mayawati said, adding there are no untouchables for us.

 

The BSP is looking forward to the mid-term polls which it feels will place it in a position to dictate terms to a weak government in Delhi. A weak government in New Delhi is ideally suited to the interests of the BSP, Mayawati said adding that her party was working to ensure that the election produces a majboor (dependent) rather than a mazboot (strong) government.

Asked if that was how her party hoped to ride to power, Mayawati shot back, We are aware that this is not going to be our turn, but of course, I am confident that the BSP will be in a comfortable position to lead the country by the turn of the century.

She does not expect the new government at the Centre to last long. Whoever comes to power will not last more than 18-24 months, after which there will be yet another election that shall see the BSPs rise to power, she claimed. The BSP leader explained that once we field more upper caste, other backward caste (OBC) and Muslim candidates, we will dig into the vote bank of our key rivals - the BJP (Bharatiya Janata Party) as well as the Samajwadi Party in UP.

According to Mayawati, the new strategy would divide the votes of our rivals, while our vote base of Dalits would still remain with us. The BSP expects to wean away both the BJPs upper caste supporters and a section of the SPs OBC and Muslim backers.

For the December 29 election to 39 vacant seats in the Uttar Pradesh legislative council, the BSP has put up only one Dalit nominee, with the bulk of the candidates being upper caste Hindus, Muslims or OBCs.

The OBCs, Upper ca. A substantial number of Muslims and upper caste Hindus have also been fielded for the by poll.

The BSP leader claimed that her six months as Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister have won over a large chunk of the OBC vote in her partys favour. She was referring to the creation of several new districts, parks and public bodies named after forgotten social reformers, mostly belonging to the socially backward castes or Dalits.

The OBCs in Uttar Pradesh were just not aware that our idols, Mahatma Jyoti Rao Phule or Shahuji Maharaj, hailed from among OBCs and had been engaged in exemplary reforms aimed at social equality, she said, adding, we therefore took it upon ourselves to do this by christening districts and other places in their names.

Asked if her past links with the BJP would not put off the Muslims, Mayawati said, We will tell the Muslim masses how it was the United Front and the Congress that actually forced us into taking the BJPs support to form a coalition government after the last state elections concluded in a hung assembly.

She said that even Congress president Sitaram Kesri, who claims to be a champion of the Dalit cause, failed to rise to the occasion to withdraw Congress support to the United Front when the latter did not agree to his proposal to support my government.

The BSP will try to win over the Muslims by telling them how it saved the disputed shrines in Mathura and Varanasi from the BJPs allies. Even though I was running a government with the BJPs support, I refused to let the VHP (Vishwa Hindu Parishad) perform their yagya (Hindu ritual of fire worship) in Mathura or jal-abhishek (another Hindu ritual) in Varanasi, she said.

She said it is high time that the Muslims realised they were being misled by Samajwadi Party (SP) leader Mulayam Singh Yadav, pointing out that Yadav had himself aligned with the BJP on two previous occasions - in 1977 and 1989.

Mayawati said that, even though her party had decided to go it alone in Uttar Pradesh for the coming general election, it would make substantial gains in other states where the BSP is open for alliances or seat adjustments with other national or regional parties. We should be able to take our tally up to least 40-50, she said.

In the dissolved 11th Lok Sabha, the BSP had 11 MPs, six of them from Uttar Pradesh, three from Punjab and two from Madhya Pradesh.

The BSP expects to do the best in Uttar Pradesh. Everybody has seen how my government worked without discrimination against anyone and people are convinced that the BSP alone is a party that is committed to the overall well-being of people belonging to all castes and religions, she said, explaining why her party has the edge over its rivals in Uttar Pradesh.

She is also confident her party would make inroads into Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Orissa, Rajasthan and even Jammu and Kashmir. Perhaps you are not aware that we have one MLA in Karnataka already, Mayawati said.