Tributes to Kanshi Ram now ‘opportunistic fashion’: Maya

Lucknow: Bahujan Samaj Party chief Mayawati on Saturday said it has become an "opportunistic fashion" for opposition parties like the Congress and the Samajwadi Party to pay tribute to Dalit icon Kanshi Ram and added that such remembrances are driven by "narrow political objectives and electoral interests".BSP chief's reaction came a day after Congress MP Rahul Gandhi while addressing a programme in Lucknow said Kanshi Ram's struggle, vision and impact on Indian politics still hold relevance.In a statement on her X account, Mayawati asked Bahujan voters to listen to everyone but not let the power of their unity and votes go into the hands of "vote ke saudagar (people who trade in votes)" as this alone will be their real tribute to Dr Bhimrao Ambedkar and Kanshi Ram."Kanshi Ramji would not have felt the need to form BSP if the implementation of the welfare and egalitarian objectives of the Constitution was done with the right intent and policies. Nor would crores of Bahujans suffer social, economic and political inequalities or bear the burden of poverty, unemployment and backwardness till today," she said.Expressing concern over "narrow-minded politics replete with casteist hatred", she said efforts to weaken the constitutional provision of reservation for weaker sections will make the exploitation of Bahujans more severe. SP chief Akhilesh Yadav has also announced celebrating PDA Diwas in every UP district on Kanshi Ram's birth anniversary on March 15. PDA signifies 'Pichhda, Dalit and Alpsankhyak (backwards, Dalits and religious minorities)', the vote bank SP aims to capitalise on. The Congress-SP alliance in UP got some of BSP's core Jatav voters in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.Mayawati said that owing to opposition's vested politics, Dr Bhimrao Ambedkar was not given the Bharat Ratna when he was alive (the honour was conferred on him posthumously in 1990) nor the Congress or SP govts declare a day's mourning when Kanshi Ramji died. She questioned Congress and SP for not supporting the reservation-in-promotions bill, and for tearing it in Parliament. "Are these the traits of respect towards Bahujans and their great leaders?" BSP chief said."Can Bahujans trust political parties and their opportunist leaders who always made it difficult for Babasaheb and Kanshi Ramji to unite Bahujans and make them into a political power to get the master key to power?" she said, and appealed to her party workers and supporters to make the programme organised by BSP to commemorate Kanshi Ram's birth anniversary on Sunday a success.