SP-BSP say no to joint political rally in UP

Lucknow: It seems there is no possibility of the Samajwadi Party (SP) and Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) coming together on a single platform in near future. The speculation was rife on this issue. However, there is no such programme to hold a joint political rally in Uttar Pradesh. Both the parties have gone back on any such programme in the near future. SP Spokesperson Rajendra Choudhury today made it clear that there was no such plan in the near future. After jointly attending a lunch hosted by Congress President Sonia Gandhi last week over discussion on Presidential polls, there were speculations that the BSP chief Mayawati and SP President Akhilesh Yadav might come together for a rally in Uttar Pradesh for the first time. The idea of a joint rally was mooted at the luncheon, when RJD chief Lalu Prasad Yadav asked the two former Chief Ministers of UP to come forward and help host big political congregations of anti-BJP parties across the country. SP MP Naresh Agarwal was too prompt to confirm that the idea of organising joint rallies. He had said that a rally would be organised after the one held by Mr Lalu Yadav in Patna on August 27 after the Presidential elections. But a couple of days after the meeting, leaders of both the parties are not too enthusiastic about a joint rally in UP.

“The party is going for a massive membership drive till June 15 and we are concentrating on this issue only. There is no such plan to joint hands with BSP at this moment,” SP Spokesperson Choudhury said here. A senior BSP leader too said that though Ms Mayawati went to the lunch hosted by the Congress President, but there was no such decision on a joint political meeting in UP to counter the BJP. On the other hand, the idea of a joint rally by Ms Mayawati and Mr Akhilesh could give a fillip to shaping up of the much anticipated anti-BJP front, ahead of the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, political observers feel.

The coming together of the two rival parties has been widely speculated after the two regional satraps faced a complete rout at the hands of BJP during the recent UP Assembly elections. In fact, the last Parliamentary elections saw Ms Mayawati’s BSP getting reduced to a zero, while SP was restricted to just five seats. Mr Lalu and AITC chief Mamta Banerjee are also learnt to have been trying to convince both the leaders to join hands for taking on BJP in the forthcoming Lok Sabha elections. Meanwhile, BSP has now changed its political tactics and has returned to its old Dalit-Brahmin combination, giving the upper caste prominence in the party organisation.

This has been indicated with the appointment of former MLC Gopal Narain Mishra, a close relative of BSP MP Satish Chandra Mishra, as In-charge of party’s Lucknow zone. Mishra is perhaps the first Brahmin to make it to the zonal In-charge position, which is dominated by the BSP’s Dalit cadre. Sources here today said that Ms Mayawati’s had recently praised SC Mishra, calling him as one of the ‘most trustworthy leaders, who respected her more than his sisters.’ Also, Ms Mayawati came out in open support of mafia-turned-politician Harishankar Tewari’s son and BSP MLA from Gorakhpur Vinay Tewari, whose house was raided by police recently in connection with a loot case. She had even sent BSP leaders to Gorakhpur to protest against the raid on Tewari’s home.

Other Brahmin leaders in the party too are gaining prominence. Former BSP MLAs Anant Mishra and Nakul Dubey have been made In-charge of Kanpur and Lucknow, respectively, for the upcoming local bodies’ elections. In a first, the BSP chief has also announced that her party would contest these elections on the party symbol. Besides, former MLC Subodh Parashar has been made In-charge of Bijnor, the Dalit Muslim-dominated district.

Likewise, two other BSP Brahmin leaders – Om Prakash Tripathi and Arun Dwivedi, are gaining prominence in the party structure. Sources said that Ms Mayawati may be going back to her Dalit-Brahmin experiment after her Dalit-Muslim consolidation plan failed in the UP elections.