Lucknow: The beleaguered Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) has decided to reach out to the Brahmin community in Uttar Pradesh to make up for the party’s shrinking electoral base.
BSP president Mayawati has asked senior party leaders to launch a “Brahmin Jodo” campaign from ‘Navratri’ this month.
The party is holding meetings at all district levels with five top party leaders in every district working out the modalities of the campaign.
Brahmin leaders in the BSP have been asked to lead the campaign, irrespective of their seniority in the party.
The party general secretary Satish Chandra Mishra is managing the campaign at the state level. He has already held meetings with district leaders from all 75 districts of the state.
In eastern Uttar Pradesh, the BSP plans to project former minister Ranganath Mishra and Bhishm Shankar Tiwari as the Brahmin leaders while central Uttar Pradesh, the responsibility will be given to BSP MP Ritesh Pandey, former ministers Antu Mishra and Nakul Dubey.
The party is frantically looking for a Brahmin face in western Uttar Pradesh since one of its senior most leaders, Ramvir Upadhyay has moved towards the BJP.
Talking to IANS, a senior BSP leader said, “Behenji (Mayawati) wants to repeat the 2007 experiment when Dalits and Brahmins joined hands to usher in the party’s first majority government.
“We are reaching out to Brahmins who are decidedly upset with the BJP after the Vikas Dubey encounter. We plan to assuage the feelings of the community and bring them into the BSP fold.”
Meanwhile, for the first time, Mayawati will be addressing virtual rallies to connect with Brahmins in every district.
She will also connect with the Muslim leaders in a similar manner.
