Bahujan Samaj Party chief and four-time Chief Minister Mayawati on Tuesday promised reservation to the economically weak among the forward castes, and minority groups, if she is voted to power, as she makes a bid to shake off an ascendant BJP and wean away the Muslim from the Samajwadi Party.

Addressing a mammoth rally at Ghazipur, the stronghold of the Samajwadi Party, which had won all seven Assembly segments in the district in 2012, the BSP supremo also warned her voters against the “anti-reservation” and “anti-Dalit” character of the BJP.

“Let me warn you that the BJP, guided by the RSS, has a basic ideological agenda to put an end to caste-based reservations, which is the Constitutional right provided by Babasaheb Bhimrao Ambedkar to Dalit, backward and oppressed sections of our society,” the BSP chief said.

Mayawati also spoke of atrocities against Dalits during the BJP’s reign. She asserted that a BSP government will recommend an amendment to the Constitution to provide reservation to economically weaker sections among the upper caste and the minorities.

“Do not ever forget that the BJP runs on the agenda specified by the RSS. They are anti-Dalit. Look at what they did to [University of Hyderabad student] Rohith Vemula, who had to commit suicide. Look at what happened to Dalits in Una in Gujarat. We, the BSP, will not only conserve the rights of the oppressed sections but we will help the economically weak among the forward castes and the minority communities. We will recommend an amendment to the Constitution if the BSP is voted to power,” the BSP chief said. Mayawati is facing a challenge from the BJP which has systematically chipped away at Dalits who are not Jatavs (the community that she belongs to) — Pasis, Valmikis, Khatiks, et al — from her fold. Even backward classes such as Rajbhars, Kurmis, etc, that have hitherto voted for the BSP or the SP, have drifted to the BJP.

The BSP had a disastrous outing during the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, when the party failed to win even one of the 80 seats in Uttar Pradesh. Even the Jatavs voted BJP. But since then, the BSP chief has attempted to consolidate her traditional votebank and made strenuous effort to forge an alliance with the Muslims.

The BSP has given the largest number of tickets to Muslims in the ongoing Assembly elections – 100 of the 403 seats. Mayawati has consistently wooed the Muslim clergy by publicly protesting against the Centre’s stand on the issue of triple talaq, and welcomed local strongmen such as Mukhtar Ansari, whose party, the Quami Ekta Dal, had thus far aligned with the SP.

Campaigns for Ansari The Ansari and his brothers were spurned by Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav, following which the BSO chief seized the opportunity to lap them up. She gave tickets to Mukhtar, the QED leader who has been in jail for the murder of BJP legislator, his son Abbas Ansari and brother Sigbatullah Ansari. Sigbatullah is contesting from Mohammadabad seat in Ghazipur district while Mukhtar has been fielded from Mau and his son Abbas from Ghosi.

On Tuesday, Mayawati arrived at the Ghazipur rally with Abbas, who accompanied her in the helicopter. His other brother Sigbatullah was present on the dais while ‘ behenji ’ spoke to her voters about the need for Muslims to vote en masse for the BSP, and why Dalits should stay united.

Dangerous divide “Mulayam Singh’s love for his son has blinded him and he has hurt his brother Shivpal. Do you think Shivpal will not work against the SP in this election? The SP’s vote will get divided. The Muslims should remember this, that their vote will get wasted and benefit the BJP. Therefore, the minorities should vote en masse for the BSP because our Dalit vote is consolidated this time,” she said.

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