Ravi S Singh
Tribune News Service
New Delhi, June 29

BSP chief Mayawati has asked party cadres to ensure the success of the party’s alliance with Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) in Punjab in the forthcoming assembly election in the state.

The elections in the state will be due in February-March next year.

Also, she directed for expansion of BSP’s social base, and strengthening of the organisation in Delhi.

This was during her meeting with party functionaries from the Delhi unit to review party’s organisational works.

Referring to the BSP-SAD alliance in Punjab, she urged party activists to ensure its victory on every seat that will be contested by it in the forthcoming assembly elections.

“In the larger interest of people of Punjab and to ensure that they are liberated from the failed Congress government, a robust effort by the BSP is imperative,” Mayawati told her party functionaries.

“The present Congress government is marred by internal squabbles and factionalism. The party’s internal feud has led to neglect of public issues, and welfare of the people for long,” she said.

Mayawati further said that in the depressing situation in the state, people have hopes from the SAD-BSP alliance.

BSP’s moves in Punjab will be keenly watched by the Congress, BJP, and the AAP, which has all the more reason to worry.

The general view attribute AAP’s meteoric rise in the state to the support, including of a conglomeration of the SCs, and other poorer and weaker sections of the society.

The state has a high percentage of SC population, which the SAD would like to tap into with BSP by its side.

BSP has nostalgic reasons to be attuned to Punjab as its founder, late Kanshi Ram, hailed from the state, which acted as crucible of his experimentation to mobilise SCs (“Bahujan Samaj”) politically in the country for their socio-economic-political empowerment.

However, Uttar Pradesh emerged as the party’s citadel because of his experiment, leading to Mayawati becoming the chief minister, and its supremo after his demise.