A thorn in Behenji's side: Nephew's removal signals BSP's identity crisis

WEIGHT OF LEADERSHIP? With Mayawati's throne in peril, a churn in Dalit politics in UP, and allegations the BSP had become 'BJP's B-team', could eventually turn the tide,

- ARCHIS MOHAN

Ever since Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) National President Mayawati sacked her nephew, Akash Anand, on May 7 as her heir apparent, the party's workers canvassing for its candidates in Kanpur, Kannauj, Unnao, and elsewhere across Uttar Pradesh (UP) have struggled to explain to its supporters Behenji's sudden decision.

Legatees and practitioners of the Ambedkarite movement, such as Ashok Bharti, who has over the past 12 months appealed to the country's Scheduled Castes (SCS) to turn the 2024 Lok Sabha (LS) polls into a referendum on protecting the Constitution, believes the young Anand, with his aggressive political speeches, especially combative against the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), was making a genuine attempt to stall the BSP's seemingly inexorable decline in UP.

"The 2024 LS polls are being fought on the issue of social justice and preserving the Constitution. Behenji's move (of sacking Anand) tells us that she no longer has her finger on the pulse of Dalits. The community always votes for change, not the status quo. It does not, and will not, sit at home. It will queue up on May 13 and subsequent phases to vote for a leader or a party who will speak of protecting Babasaheb's Constitution," Bharti, chairperson of the National Confederation of Dalit Organisations, told Business Standard.

In Kanpur on Thursday, Ravi Kureel, a young BSP political worker canvassing support for the party's candidate from the seat, Kuldeep Bhaduria, conceded that jibes about the BSP leadership "surrendering" to the BJP have increased since May 7.