Mayawati wades in, says Constitution, not Ramcharitmanas, ‘sacred text’ for the backward

This drew a sharp reaction from SP president Akhilesh Yadav who told reporters in Hardoi, “Some parties on directions from BJP come out in the open from time to time.”

SP leader Swami Prasad Maurya, a former BSP and BJP functionary from the OBC Maurya community, set off a political firestorm on January 22 by saying that the epic written by Goswami Tuslidas contains “objectionable language” about women, Dalits, tribals, and backward classes. Initially, the SP appeared to be distancing itself from him but Akhilesh did not criticise Maurya, subtly indicating that the senior leader had his support.

After protesters waved black flags at him at a temple in Lucknow last week, the SP president hit out at the BJP saying that the ruling party “considers all Dalits and OBCs as Shudra”, something Mayawati feels is “disrespectful towards the communities that were given nouns like SC, ST and OBCs by B R Ambedkar”.

While the BJP took a very different stand on the Ramcharitmanas, saying it is a sacred text respected by all Hindus and that Maurya hurt Hindu sentiments by criticising it, Mayawati has neither defended nor criticised the text. Her statements seem to be targeted at SP, while it reaches out to these communities.

A BSP leader said Mayawati’s statement had come late and there was a reason for it. “She wanted to weigh in on the situation. She has seen that the remarks about the epic written by Tulsidas by Maurya are not stray, but are part of the SP’s strategy to reach out to the Dalit and non-Yadav OBC communities which have been her traditional vote bank,” said the leader.

In a second tweet, Mayawati wrote that like other states, Dalits, Adivasis, and OBCs are oppressed, and face injustices in UP too. “For this ignorance and contempt towards saints, gurus, and legends born in these sections, the Congress, the BJP and the Samajwadi Party are no less than each other,” she said.

On Twitter, Mayawati also mentioned an incident that occurred at the state guest house in Lucknow in 1995, writing, “While advocating for these groups, SP chief (Akhilesh) should remember the incident at the Lucknow state guest house on June 2, 1995, and should check his past when a Dalit daughter, who was going to become the chief minister, was attacked at the behest of the SP government.”

The BSP chief wrote, “It is clear that in the country, the respect of SC, ST, OBC, Muslim and other religious minorities is safe only in the BSP, while other parties do different kinds of drama for their selfish reason of getting their votes.”

Responding to the BSP chief’s tweets, Akhilesh said, “You couldn’t understand the cunningness of BJP here. The BJP is a smart party. The answers they don’t want to give, they put forward other parties. As far as the Constitution is concerned, if you check my statement on Republic Day, I said that for us Samajwadis, the most important religion is the Constitution. We worship this democracy and the rights the Constitution gives us are being snatched away. Where does it say in the Constitution that discrimination should be done? Where does it say that religions should be measured as high or low? Are we getting the rights for which Dr Ambedkar and Lohia ji fought? The BJP is snatching those rights and disrespecting people.”

The BSP performed poorly in the Assembly polls last year, winning just one seat, but its vote share of 12.88 per cent indicated that it had not lost its core voters — Dalits. Now, with the SP reaching out to Dalits and particularly the Most Backward Classes (MBCs) and non-Yadav OBCs, the BSP chief seems to be in an uneasy position. While the BSP feels confident about getting Dalit votes, it is now also reaching out to OBCs and Muslims. The indication of his strategy lies in OBC leaders being given important party positions since the defeat in the Assembly polls.

The Ramcharitmanas row started in Bihar after Education Minister Chandra Shekhar called the epic “a divisive text”. After Maurya’s comments set off a controversy, Akhilesh made it seem like a well-thought-out strategy to reach out to the backward communities in the state. Despite facing pushback from the BJP and his party’s Brahmin leadership, Akhilesh did not contradict or condemn Maurya’s remarks and merely said he would “ask him (Maurya) to join the movement for a caste census in the state”. While many expected Akhilesh to give Maurya a rap on the knuckles, the former state minister was instead given the all-important post of party’s national general secretary in the latest national executive committee.