In a tactical shift, the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) supremo Mayawati on Thursday made an announcement with 21 Brahmins forming the largest chunk, followed by 19 Muslims, of which 12 are in west UP in comparison to what she did in 2009 Lok Sabha election, when 20 Brahmins and 14 Muslims got the BSP ticket.
The party has a crystal clear strategy of jumping into the fray with the untested M-B-D formula comprising Muslims, Brahmins and Dalits contrary to the belief that hers is a Dalit party.
The higher allocation of seats to the two communities as a consequence has decreased the number of OBCs, who are ostensibly being wooed by both Samajwadi Party and the Bharatiya Janata Party.
With her Dalit vote base remaining largely unscathed, she would expect to increase her count in western UP where a strong anti-SP feeling runs high among Muslims in the aftermath of the riots.
The move to give more seats to Muslims is seen as an attempt to persuade the community in the wake of west UP riots that claimed the lives of around 60 people, ostensibly from the minority.The lesser number of seats allocated to OBCs is seen also as a astute move of Mayawati given the fact that the community is already divided between SP and BJP. The BSP chief too decided to field 17 SCs, eight Thakurs and seven women candidates.
Interestingly, a glance at the list indicates that the party has given ticket to 63 non-Dalit candidates, with 21 Brahmins forming the largest chunk, subsequently, 19 Muslims, of which 12 are in west UP. These include Kadir Rana, the sitting MP from Muzaffarnagar, who is one of the accused for instigating the riots there in August-September last.
The list of candidates includes Pawan Pandey one of the accused in the Babri Masjid demolition case. However, Mayawati did not give the ticket to mafia-turned-politician Dhananjay Singh; she made a decision to retain Jitendra Singh ‘Babloo’, who will contest from Faizabad.
Mayawati also allocated tickets to family members of her pet ministers, like Naseemuddin Siddiqui and Ramveer Upadhyay. Though Upadhyay’s wife Seema will be contesting from Fatehpur Sikri, his brother Mukul will be trying his fate from Ghaziabad. Naseemuddin Siddiqui’s son Afzal will contest from from Fatehpur.