“Haathi Nahi Ganesh Hai… Brahma, Vishnu, Mahesh Hai…”
In a big outreach to the Brahmin community, Mayawati has given a prime role related to elections to her confidante and the party’s Brahmin face, Satish Chandra Mishra.
BSP national general secretary Satish Chandra Mishra will now also lead the BSP’s legal and media teams, apart from handling Election Commission-related matters, Mayawati announced on Wednesday. It turned BSP from an anti-Brahmin and Dalit-centric party into an umbrella coalition of all caste groups. Mayawati rode to power on the back of a Brahmin-Dalit alliance. In a big outreach to the Brahmin community, Mayawati has given a prime role related to elections to her confidante and the party’s Brahmin face, Satish Chandra Mishra. Mayawati further stated that her party’s decision to field more Brahmin candidates in the upcoming elections has caused discomfort among rivals. The people of the ‘Bahujan Samaj’ need to remain constantly vigilant and alert against their tactics,” she added without directly naming the SP or the BJP.
Bahujan Samaj Party’s slogan in 2007 Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections redefined state’s social engineering and Mayawati’s political fortunes. “Since the BSP began nominating candidates from all sections of society – especially the Brahmin community – in a manner aligned with preparations to form a full-majority BSP government like in 2007, it is evident that discussions and concerns have arisen among opposition parties regarding this. In the Lok Sabha election of 2024, Mayawati’s party failed to win a single seat in UP and its vote share dropped to under 10%. But can Mayawati’s harping back to the 2007 success story dent the Brahmin-BJP love affair in UP? The bloc has been steadfastly behind the saffron party, with 89% of Brahmins voting for the BJP in the 2022 elections, according to CSDS-Lokniti data. Along with this, 87% of Thakurs/Rajputs, 83% of Vaishyas and 78% of other upper castes voted for the BJP in the last Assembly election.
