SP looks to weaponise Mayawati’s praise for saffron brigade
PDA panchayats and chaupals being held by SP workers in UP have been telling people how the BJP is allegedly trying to change the Constitution and end caste-based reservation in the long run
LUCKNOW Keeping in mind the 2027 UP assembly polls, the Samajwadi Party is leaving no stone unturned in convincing backwards and Dalits that the Bahujan Samaj Party is the ‘B’ team of the Bharatiya Janata Party.
The PDA (Pichhda Dalit Alpsankhyak) panchayats and chaupals being held by SP workers in UP have been telling people how the BJP is allegedly trying to change the Constitution and end caste-based reservation in the long run. They will also include the recent praise of the BJP government in the state by BSP chief Mayawati, in an attempt to label the BSP as the ‘B’ team of the saffron party.
At a rally organised in Lucknow, Mayawati had praised the BJP government for better upkeep of monuments made during the BSP regime in UP. However, the SP Ambedkar Vahini has been tasked to propagate how BSP and BJP are allegedly playing hand in glove.
SP Ambedkar Vahini national general secretary Ram Babu Sudarshan said: “BSP president praising anti-constitutional forces from the stage of the Lucknow rally is an indication that she no longer has any connection with the ideology of Baba Saheb Bhim Rao Ambedkar. Atrocities, injustice and heinous crimes like gang rape are taking place against Dalits, the weak and deprived, under the rule of those in power today.”
“BSP workers following the ideology of Ambedkar and Kashiram ji have started distancing themselves from the party. Former district president and former coordinator of Pratapgarh BSP and member of SC/ST Commission, Mahendra Bauddh left BSP and joined the SP. He has now been made vice-president of the SP Ambedkar Vahini,” added Sudarshan.
“Our people will expose how the BSP chief is indirectly benefiting the BJP. The workers will also tell them how BJP is weakening our constitution and trying to end reservation,” he added.
The SP has been strengthening its Dalit and Backward outreach since 2019 when it first contested the Lok Sabha elections in alliance with the BSP. However, after much hype, the alliance failed to work and was eventually called off by the BSP leadership.
The SP, however, went further with its outreach and coined the term PDA. This plank paid dividends to the party in 2024 LS elections as SP bagged a 37 LS seats while its alliance partner Congress won six.
BSP (UP president) Vishwanath Pal said: “SP people are rattled by the success of the BSP rally as people from across the state participated in huge numbers. They should know that there is some earning from the memorials made during the BSP regime; this earning is deposited with the government, which in turn, is used for maintenance of these places. During SP regime, maintenance of these memorials was not done properly. The maintenance was only done after a letter was sent to CM Yogi, to which Behen ji had thanked him.”
“What kind of PDA Panchayat is SP talking about...it is a Pariwar Dal Alliance. The members of Yadav clan, including younger daughter-in-law of Mulayam Singh Yadav is in BJP, another relative of Dharmendra Yadav is contesting elections from BJP. People are smart enough to know whose family has links with the BJP,” added Pal.
Attacking the SP further on the PDA Panchayats, the BSP state president said: “The SP people should tell in their PDA Panchayats who took away reservation for Dalits in contracts and who stopped OBC, SC/ST backlog job vacancies. People will shun SP Ambedkar Vahini people from their villages. Our people are smart enough to identify people who changed the name of a district named after Baba Saheb.”
The SP Ambedkar Vahini has appointed Lok Sabha in-charges, Vidhan Sabha in-charges and booth coordinators who will go to the grassroots level and connect with the Dalit community. Also, on the occasion of Constitution Day on November 26, SP Ambedkar Vahini is going to organize a grand event in Lucknow in which people from all over the country will participate. The chief guest of this programme will be SP president Akhilesh Yadav.
