BSP chief Mayawati’s political comeback speech on the 19th death anniversary of her party’s founder Kanshi Ram was marked by the four-time UP chief minister training guns on the principal opposition party in UP Samajwadi Party more than the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party whose state government she thanked for not usurping the money earned from the purchase of tickets of Lucknow’s Rashtriya Dalit Smarak and utilising the same for the monument’s maintenance.
Throughout the speech, the BSP chief repeatedly exhorted her supporters to help her party form the government “on its own” and ruled out any alliance with any party- which has been the party’s stand since the 2022 state assembly elections.
Founded by Kanshi Ram in 1984, the BSP reached the zenith of electoral success in 2007 when it emerged as the single largest party in UP but since 2019, the party’s support base has gradually eroded and it won only one seat in the 2022 assembly polls with a vote share of 12.8 percent.
But its worst performance till date came in 2024 Lok Sabha polls when the party won zero seat and saw its vote share slump to 9.39 per cent.
While the BSP once enjoyed a complete hold over UP’s Dalit community which comprises 21 per cent of the state’s populace (2011 census), the non-Jatavs have defected to the BJP in the previous elections while in the 2024 LS polls, even a sizeable chunk of the Jatavs- the community to which Mayawati belongs- deserted her party and sided with the SP-Congress combine.
After thanking her supporters for breaking all previous records of crowd-turnout in the rally which was held four years after a similar rally was held, she thanked the current BJP government for utilizing the money earned from the purchase of tickets by visitors who come to visit the Dalit memorial for its maintenance and “not usurping it unlike the erstwhile Samajwadi Party government.”
This extracted an immediate reaction from the SP chief Akhilesh Yadav who targeted Mayawati for thanking “those who were unleashing atrocities on the people” and accused her of having “an understanding” with the ruling BJP.
Mayawati targeted all political parties of UP including the Congress, BJP and SP alleging that they had “a casteist mindset” along with asking the Bahujan community to stay away from “selfish and saleable people from the community who have floated parties.” But her main target was the SP whom she accused of remembering Kanshi Ram and the “pichchde, Dalit, alpsankhayak (backward, Dalit, minorities)- a slogan given by the SP) only when it was out of power.
“I want to ask Akhilesh Yadav if you had so much respect for Kanshi Ram ji, then why did you change the name of Kanshi Ram Nagar–which was named so in my regime-to Kasganj?,” she asked.
She targeted the SP for “virtually finishing the issue of reservation in promotion” and for encouraging hooligans, mafias and criminals adding that the same situation was visible under the BJP government now.
Recounting the achievements of the four governments led by her in UP stating that under her regime, the Dalits, deprived and minorities were not rendered “helpless” by giving ration from their own money- a veiled dig at the BJP government which is giving Rs 5 kg free food grains to the poor per month.
Invoking the emergency, Mayawati said that while the then Congress government had rendered Babasaheb BR Ambedkar’s Constitution defunct, it was now resorting to natakbazi (gimmicks) by holding the Constitution in hands (a veiled dig at Rahul Gandhi).
Stating that some mischievous elements were indulging in inciting violence by raking issues associated with “religious deities, Khuda (Muslim word for God) and religion” and indulge in politics under the garb of the same and also said that no politics should happen “in the name of I love….etc.”
“Such issues should be strictly dealt as per the guidelines of the Constitution and nobody should interfere in the longstanding traditions and religious beliefs of anyone,” she said.
Media spread false reports about my meeting with SP leader: Maya
Dispelling all speculation of SP veteran Azam Khan joining her party, Mayawati said that just before her rally, rumours were spread that she had met someone from the family of a senior SP leader.
“Even I don’t know that I have met someone. When don’t meet people secretly, I meet them openly,” she said.
Grapevine about SP’s Muslim face Khan’s wife Tazeen Fatma meeting Mayawati in Delhi were ripe for the past 15 days but Mayawati put all the speculation to rest.
As SP attempts to appropriate Kanshi Ram’s legacy, Akhilesh says Maya speaking BJP’s language
While the BSP chief sounded the political bugle for the 2027 polls on the death anniversary of Kanshi Ram, the SP and Congress too held events to mark the occasion.
While Yadav garlanded the pictures of Kanshi Ram and Ambedkar at his party’s headquarters, a group of Buddhist priests offered prayers to Lord Buddha at the venue.
Yadav said that PDA needed to be strengthened by adopting the path of Ambedkar, Kanshi Ram, ‘Netaji’ (Mulayam Singh Yadav) and socialist ideologues Ram Manohar Lohia and Jai Prakash Narayan.
Stating that the SP under his father Mulayam Singh had helped Kanshi Ram to become an MP from Etawa, Yadav said that the party under the above-mentioned ideologues fought communal politics.
Asked about Mayawati praising the BJP government in UP, he said that it only showed that “there is an internal understanding” between the BSP and the BJP.
He also countered Mayawati’s criticism that the Dalit memorial was not maintained and enumerated steps taken under his regime for its upkeep.
When asked about Mayawati’s charge that the SP government encouraged criminals and mafias, Akhilesh alleged that Mayawati was speaking to BJP’s language.
Political experts say that while Mayawati did attempted a comeback through the mega rally, her speech was on expected lines and did not offer any novelty.
“Mayawati tends to follow a script so her speech had little novelty to offer. If a party wants to form the government on its own, it needs to attack the ruling government rather than attacking a fellow opposition party. There have been several incidents of Dalit atrocities in UP which could have been raised but not mentioning the same gives weightage to the accusation that her party tends to go soft on the ruling BJP. The speech also saw little outreach to Muslims despite the community being one of the decisive communities in UP. Mayawati could have focused more on attempting to win back the Dalits and Muslims who used to form the major support base of her party but clearly, her speech had little novelty to offer to them,” remarked Shashikant Pandey, professor, Political Science, Babasaheb Bhimrao Ambedkar University.
ALSO READ: ‘Spoke To My Friend’, PM Modi Congratulates Donald Trump On Gaza Peace Plan, Calls Netanyahu
Sofia Babu Chacko is a journalist with over five years of experience covering Indian politics, crime, human rights, gender issues, and stories about marginalized communities. She believes that every voice matters, and journalism has a vital role to play in amplifying those voices. Sofia is committed to creating impact and shedding light on stories that truly matter. Beyond her work in the newsroom, she is also a music enthusiast who enjoys singing.
