BSP to pay tributes to Kanshi Ram

Lucknow: After the BSP's Oct 9 rally last year, the birth anniversary of Kanshi Ram on Mar 15 will be another show of strength for the party in UP.Kanshi Ram formed the BSP in 1984. His 19th death anniversary, on Oct 9 last year, was when party president Mayawati held a rally in Lucknow after a gap of 10 years. Party workers and supporters from across the state gathered at the Manyawar Shri Kanshiramji Smarak Sthal in Lucknow to pay tributes to their founder. On Mar 15, BSP cadres and workers will gather at the same venue to pay tributes to Kanshi Ram. Behenji, however, may not hold any rally this time. BSP state president Vishwanath Pal said it will be a massive event. "But if Behenji was coming, she would have conveyed it to us by now," he said.
Mar 15 will also be when the Samajwadi Party celebrates ‘PDA Diwas' in every district, an announcement that SP chief Akhilesh Yadav made on Feb 25. PDA is SP's political plank to reach out to ‘Pichhde' (other backward castes or OBCs), Dalits and ‘Alpsankhyak' (minorities).Mayawati called it "SP's pure political drama, deceit and show-off to get votes of the deprived sections." She also appealed to ‘Bahujans' to stay vigilant of such moves. Bahujans comprise SCs, STs and religious minorities, which is also BSP's votebase in UP.Making Kanshiram's birth anniversary a massive event for BSP was a target given to party cadres by the party chief. In keeping with that, district-level commemorative events will also be held.In west UP, party workers and cadres will gather at Rashtriya Dalit Prerna Sthal in Noida on the day.