SP to celebrate Ambedkar Jayanti to strengthening new-bond with BSP
Samajwadi Party, which has found a new political bonhomie in the BSP, is all set to celebrate Dr. Ambedkar Jayanti on April 14 in a grand manner. The party is sending out directives to all its district units to celebrate the occasion on a mega scale and use the occasion to increase interaction in Dalit dwellings and Dalit populated areas. Here are more details.
This will be the first time that a conscious effort is being made by SP to ensure celebrations on Dr. Ambedkar Jayanti on a big scale. Till now, the SP had restricted itself to the customary offering of floral tributes to Dr. Ambedkar on his birth anniversary. However, there is no plan yet to hold a joint program with the BSP.
"It is wrong to say that we will be celebrating Ambedkar Jayanti for the first time. The party has always paid tributes to Dr Ambedkar on his birth and death anniversary and we hold him in high esteem," SP spokesman Rajendra Chaudhary said.
A senior SP leader on condition of anonymity said, occasion would be used to increase the interaction and coordination between the SP and BSP cadres in order to develop better understanding. The coming together of SP and BSP, sources said, can succeed only if the social equations between OBCs, mainly Yadavs, and Dalits succeed. Two caste groups have virtually been at war since 1995.
"Our party leaders and workers will be going to Dalit populated areas. We will be organizing functions and seminars, highlighting the contribution of Dr. Ambedkar towards social justice. This will iron out the creases between the cadres of the two parties," SP leader disclosed. BSP had been organizing Ambedkar Jayanti annually on a big-scale with its President Mayawati paying homage to the Dalit icon.
BJP spokesman Rakesh Tripathi said, "It is a big drama ever since the SP has made 'elephant' (BSP's symbol) its friend." "It's a worried condition for Dalits as the people of UP have not forgotten how Dalits were at the receiving end on the very day when Akhilesh Yadav had become the CM in 2012...their houses and hamlets were set ablaze," he added.
Political analyst Ramesh Dixit said the celebration of Dr Ambedkar Jayanti is aimed at further consolidating the relations with BSP. "All the forces of social justice are coming together on one platform... this move is aimed at consolidating the friendship for the cause of defeating rivals," Dixit said, who retired as Head of the Political Science department of Lucknow University.
The SP-BSP understanding in Gorakhpur and Phulpur Lok Sabha by-elections stopped the victory march of the BJP, which along with its allies had bagged 73 of the 80 parliamentary seats in the state. While Gorakhpur is the home turf of CM Yogi Adityanath, Phulpur was represented by his Deputy Keshav Maurya. Defeats in both places caused embarrassment to saffron party ahead of 2019 polls.
