BJP takes fight for Dalit votes to Maya memorials

LUCKNOW: The Bharatiya Janata Party (BSP) took on Wednesday the fight for the Dalit votes to the memorials built by former chief minister Mayawati during her stint from 2007 to 2012.

BJP national president Amit Shah, chief minister Yogi Adityanath, BJP state unit president Mahendra Nath Pandey and other senior leaders paid obeisance to Dalit icon Jyotiba Phule on his 191th birth anniversary by offering floral tribute at his statue installed at Lucknow’s Samta Mulak crossing.

Earlier, the BJP leaders had been avoiding visit to Dalit memorials and parks constructed by Mayawati.

In fact, such memorials remained an exclusive domain of the BSP leaders and workers who used to frequent them on the occasion of the death and birth anniversaries of Dalit icons. The BJP, the SP, the Congress and the RLD, meanwhile, used to organise such events in their party offices only. “By organising the birth anniversary programme of Phule at Samata Mulak crossing, the BJP has not only surprised the BSP but also succeeded in sending a message to the Dalits that they will not hesitate in adopting the Dalit memorials and parks built by Mayawati to get their support,” said RK Gautam, a Dalit activist.

Ironically, during the earlier stint of Mayawati (1995), the BJP leaders had launched a movement to protest the construction of Parivartan Crossing in Lucknow’s Hazratganj area and installation of idols of Dalit icons over there. The BJP had threatened to launch statewide movement over the BSP government’s decision to install the statue Periyar RV Ramasamy Naicker. Since the BJP was extending support to the government from outside, the then chief minister Mayawati buckled under pressure and announced that her government had shunned the plan to install Periyar’s statue. The fight for the Dalit votes is going to be bitter in the coming days as the BSP has planned a statewide programme on the birth anniversary of Ambedkar.

Mayawati has directed the party leaders and workers to participate in the programme at the memorials in strength.

“Rebellion by four Dalit MPs -Savitri Bai, Ashok Dohrey, Chhotelal Kharwar and Yashwant Singh --had shaken the BJP. The BJP leaders visiting memorials and statues of Dalit icons is only a damage control exercise,” said RK Mishra, A political observer.

“Aware that BJP making inroads into Dalit votes had cost Mayawati dearly in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections as well as 2017 assembly elections, the BSP will do all to counter the BJP strategy for 2019 Lok Sabha election,” he said.

Mayawati has already launched an attack on the BJP governments — both at the centre and the state — on the sharp rise in cases of atrocities on Dalits. Terming Prime Minister Narendra Modi and chief minister Yogi Adityanath as anti-Dalit, Mayawati had alleged that reservation policy for the Dalits in government jobs had been made ineffective. She also charged the Yogi government with harassing Dalits who participated in the Bharat Bandh movement on April 2.

To counter the attack by Mayawati, the BJP directed its leader to spend a night in the Dalit-dominated villages and launch ‘Gram Swaraj’ drive in Dalit villages on the birth anniversary of Bhimrao Ambedkar (April 14).

The government also directed officials to provide free power connections to Dalit households.