Mayawati’s Brahmins

In Uttar Pradesh, it is the slogan that spawns the spin. Who can understand and explain this better than the Bahujan Samaj Party’s one-woman army, Mayawati, who has retained the feet (Dalit) and attempts to co-opt the head (Brahmin)? On June 9, 2005, the heads that numbered five lakh at a Brahmin rally of the BSP looked up at her in utter disbelief as she shouted, “Haathi (BSP symbol) nahin Ganesh hain, Brahma, Vishnu, Mahesh hain.” The rally marked the transition from an ideological high ground: Jitni jinki sankhya bhari, Utni unki hissedari (Bigger share in power for the numerically stronger), to a more pragmatic, Jitni jiski taiyyari, Utni uski hissedari (Bigger share for the better prepared).

It was in 2002 that Mayawati’s strategy to expand her agenda to embrace the high castes took shape, but it was the timing that made a success of the Brahmin rallies she conducted across the state. From being a traditional Congress supporter, the Brahmin voter in Uttar Pradesh found better identification with the emergence of BJP, but the disillusionment began and sustained with the rise of Kalyan Singh and Rajnath Singh. During Rajnath Singh’s tenure, the Thakurs dominated to such an extent that even other parties fielded them.

Mayawati, the fiery opponent of what she defined as Manuwadi, first relented on her caste exclusivity when she appointed Satish Chandra Mishra, a Brahmin, as the state advocate-general in 2002. He is now a key player in her campaign along with Brijesh Pathak, the BSP’s deputy leader of the Lok Sabha.

To make this “social engineering” look more tangible, the party formed the “Bhaichara Banao Samiti, Brahmin Samaj, BSP,” in all the 403 assembly constituencies. Every samiti has 400 members, 300 Brahmins and 100 Dalits, the former its chairman and the latter the general secretary. There are more Brahmins in the samiti because it is they who are extending their hands to the Dalits, who must be basking in the fact that Behenji is not drifting away.

This week the BSP announced the names of a record 86 Brahmins among 110 upper-caste candidates for the coming polls. Dalits numbered just 91. The message is loud and clear.

key Brahmin players in the BAHUJAN SAMAJ PARTY

Satish Chandra Mishra, Rajya Sabha MP and BSP national general secretary:
The first thing Mayawati did on becoming chief minister in 2002 was to appoint lawyer Mishra as advocate-general. Mishra was later nominated to the Rajya Sabha and made deputy leader of the party. After he won for her the Supreme Court case involving defected BSP MLAs, Mishra was gifted the post of national general secretary in January 2004. “When she offered to make me advocate-general, I told her she didn’t know me and that I was a Brahmin. She was surprised and said it was a misconception that she was against Brahmins or high castes and that she strived to level them,” he recalls. Mishra has fought litigations for virtually every party for 31 years.

It was Mishra who advocated the idea to Mayawati that the collective force of the Brahmins, who command a whopping 13.8 per cent vote share, could tilt towards the BSP. In early 2005, he set out on a state tour with the message that all parties had used Brahmins as a vote bank and that it was time they realised their clout. Mishra, who travelled 22,000 km across the 70 districts of Uttar Pradesh holding BSP Brahmin sammelans between July 1, 2006 and September 15, 2006 is clearly the chief architect of the Brahmin project.

Brijesh Pathak, Lok Sabha MP, Unnao:
The second man in the core team. He was active in the Lucknow University student politics between 1986 and 1993 and became the president of the Lucknow University Students’ Union. He was picked up from the Congress party, where he had lost an assembly election by a negligible 130 votes from Hardoi. He contested the Unnao Lok Sabha seat with a BSP ticket in 2004, won, and was quickly made the deputy leader of the Lok Sabha. Pathak was briefly with Mishra as a junior lawyer.

Brijesh Mishra Saurabh, candidate from Garwara, Pratapgarh:
He joined the BSP by organising a huge Brahmin convention attended by some 40,000 people in the domain of the notorious Raja Bhaiyya, a Thakur whom Mayawati had booked under POTA. “I decided to join the BSP after Satish Mishra was made advocate-general and Brijesh Pathak was given a Lok Sabha ticket. I was sure a new era had begun and Behenji recognised and provided growth opportunities to Brahmins also,” he says. He first joined the Congress in 1993, then the BJP where “they went back on the promise of giving me a ticket”. He then contested as an Independent and polled around 17,000 votes, while the official BSP candidate lost to the BJP only by a margin of around 1,000 votes. Brought into the BSP by Brijesh Pathak, Saurabh is known for forming the Saurabh Sena to fight whom he claims are “the goons of Raja Bhaiyya”. He has a construction business and runs a security agency.

Nirmal Tiwari, candidate from Kalyanpur, Kanpur:
Tiwari, 34, joined the BSP three years ago because he thought no other party cared for the Brahmin community. “The BJP assumed it had acquired the Brahmins on a 99-year lease. Everyone seemed to think we were bonded labourers and no party allows the people to grow. With Behenji, we get immense respect and support,” he says. He has come from BJP where he was a party worker. He has a transport business and is contesting elections for the first time.

Nakul Dubey, candidate from Mahona, Lucknow:
Satish Mishra’s junior and part of the core team, Dubey, a lawyer for the past 20 years, joined the BSP three years ago. “I always thought the BSP had no space for other castes but my misunderstanding cleared when I saw Brahmins doing well in the party. Behenji worked for the upliftment of the Dalits, but that was to bring them on par with the higher castes, not to run them down,” he says. “The only party that works for the development of all castes, the state and the country is the BSP.”

R.K. Tiwari, candidate from Govindnagar, Kanpur:
He has been with the BSP for three years now. A supporter of Brijesh Pathak and an LIC agent, he is contesting the elections for the first time. He feels there is a remarkable difference between the workers of other parties and the BSP as the latter are disciplined.

Gopal Narain Mishra, candidate from Lucknow East:
A member of the Bar Council of India, Mishra joined Mayawati’s fold five years ago. Though the Brahmins preferred the BJP earlier, they are thoroughly disillusioned now, he says. “I have served 36 years as a lawyer in the state and have never seen such high levels of corruption and alarming law and order situation. With Behenji, you can feel there is a government at work,” he says.

Sarvesh Shukla, candidate from Generalganj, Kanpur:
Shukla is only 31 and joined the party two years ago. “I came to the BSP for two reasons. Firstly, it has one administrator and one leader. So the message always goes down correctly, the decisions are taken quickly and there is no internal politicking. Secondly, Behenji is the only leader who gives equal weightage to all castes,” says the man who is a job contractor for Coca-Cola for Kanpur district. Shukla was a student union leader in Kanpur but could not win an election.

Arvind Tripathi, candidate from Lucknow Cantonment:
Tripathi has been a lawyer for 15 years and believes the Brahmins are reposing faith in Mayawati because she has nominated them to important posts. “Behenji is the only leader who recognises the need for reservation for poor Brahmins. She knows there are Dalits among Brahmins also and will work for the downtrodden of any community. That is her real motto,” he declares.