Maya gets wary of BJP effect

BSP president Mayawati is wary of the BJP, and not without reason either. Her trusted dalit voters got converted to Hindus and voted en masse for the BJP in the recent Lok Sabha elections that made the BSP face total rout.

Now, with byelections in UP scheduled for this month, the BSP president has warned her voters against voting for the BJP in the absence of the BSP candidates.

The BSP has already announced it is not con- testing the UP byelections. “We are not contesting the byelections but you must not give your votes to the BJP because they incite you to fight against Muslims and the upper castes savour the spoils of the battle. Do not strengthen the BJP by giving your vote to them. You can vote for Independents of your choice instead,” she told party workers at the end of the two- day party meet. “It is the Hindu system that has treated you as untouchables all these years and it the BJP that has allowed the system to prosper,” she said.

In her address, Ms Mayawati used political, social and emotional arguments to keep her voters away from the BJP and instructed them to “waste” their votes instead of giving them to BJP. Her concern about the BJP making inroads into her dalit support base is understandable because dalits had turned “Hindu with a vengeance” in the Lok Sabha elections and this contributed to the BJP’s sweeping victory and the failure of the BSP to win even a single seat.

“The BSP president in determined to make her voters return to the casteist fold and not get carried away by the communal propaganda. In her speech, she has informed them of the dangers of turning communal and has explained how the BJP has taken advantage of dalits for political gain but done nothing for the deprived sections,” said a senior party functionary.

Till recently, it was believed that the BSP votes, in the absence of their party candidate, would go to the BJP since the dalit- OBC hostilities do not allow BSP voters to vote for the SP.