Uttar Pradesh: BSP chief Mayawati aide to chant Ram before Brahmin embrace

AYODHYA: In what could mark a paradigm shift in her political strategy, BSP chief Mayawati has asked her party’s Brahmin face and Rajya Sabha MP Satish Chandra Mishra to visit Ramjanmabhoomi and offer prayers before kicking off the Brahmin Sammelan in Ayodhya.
This was confirmed by Mishra on Sunday on his official Facebook page, where he wrote — “We have to repeat the victory of 2007 in 2022 to save Uttar Pradesh and its people by taking the blessings of Lord Ram in Ayodhya on July 23. Sarwajan hitaye, sarwajan sukhaye (welfare of all).”
And it will perhaps be the first time a senior BSP leader would be visiting Ramjanmabhoomi — centrestage of Hindutva politics — in what would be the Dalit party’s first public endorsement of Ram Mandir. As a matter of fact, Mayawati, herself, has never visited Ayodhya even though she carved out Ambedkarnagar from the then Faizabad in 1995. The BSP chief has also been known to stay away from religion-based politics.
Mayawati’s decision to ask her key aide Satish Mishra to pay obeisance to Ram Lalla before launching the Brahmin conclave in Ayodhya is being seen as tweaking of her social engineering formula with soft Hindutva to not just wean away Brahmins, but also to effectively counter BJP in the run-up to assembly elections. BSP’s local Brahmin leaders in Ayodhya also confirmed to TOI that Mishra would offer prayer at Ramjanmabhoomi to send out a pointed message to upper caste Hindus.
“After its elected members of zila panchayats and block development councils openly backed BJP in the just-concluded rural bodies polls, BSP will now give a message to upper caste Hindus, especially Brahmins that the Dalit party is pro-Ram," said political analyst Dr Anil Kumar Singh. He said BSP seems to be changing its strategy for its much-needed political resurrection in Uttar Pradesh.