Not pro-Dalit, BSP open to upper castes: Maya

Mayawati today threw open the Bahujan Samaj Party’s (BSP) doors to Brahmins and other upper castes, promising Cabinet berths to all tho...

Mayawati today threw open the Bahujan Samaj Party’s (BSP) doors to Brahmins and other upper castes, promising Cabinet berths to all those who win elections. Dismissing the party’s ‘‘pro-Dalit’’ image as a canard spread by the Opposition, the BSP chief extended an open offer of tickets to the upper castes in the Assembly and parliamentary elections.

‘‘The votebanks of the Congress and the BJP have been shattered and only the BSP can outseat the Mulayam government in Uttar Pradesh,’’ Mayawati told the Brahmin convention at Ambedkar Maidan this afternoon. ‘‘All those from upper castes coming to the party’s fold and winning their seats will be made ministers once the BSP gets an absolute majority.’’

The mercury touched 45 degrees Celsius today but crowds, in vermillion and ramnami dupattas, continued to flock to the convention. ‘‘Haathi nahi Ganesh hain, Brahma Vishnu Mahesh hain (It’s not elephant (BSP symbol) but a combination of Hindu Gods)’’, went the slogan as the BSP chief, for the first time, addressed a Brahmin Sammelan.

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‘‘Jiski jitni tayyari, uski utni bhagidari (those who are prepared will get a share),’’ Mayawati said, stressing that the BSP was open to not only Brahmins but all upper castes. ‘‘Kewal Brahman nahin, balki Vaishya, Kshatriya, Tyagi aur Kayasth, sabhi ka party mein swagat hai (The party is ready to welcome not only Brahmins but other upper castes),’’ she said while crowd responded with ‘‘Brahman ki yahi pukar, Mayawati chauthi baar’’.

‘‘The opposition has painted the BSP with a pro-Dalit image while the fact is just the opposite,’’ the former CM charged. ‘‘The BSP was never against the upper castes and also Hinduism. The opposition has spread this canard to get political mileage but not any more.’’

Mayawati also dealt a threat to CM Mulayam Singh Yadav. ‘‘Shri Mulayam Singh Yadavji, let Assembly polls come and I will reduce your party to the status of 1991 when the Samajwadi Party got only 30 seats out of the total 425 that time (before creation of Uttaranchal),’’ she said.

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