Former BSP leaders Nasiuddin Siddiqui and Indrajit Saroj are in touch with all those who either quit the party or were removed by Mayawati to come on a common platform. Siddiqui and Saroj are in touch with family members of Kansi Ram also so that they can play an important role in UP politics and mobilise support for the new outfit.

As per reports, Nasiuddin Siddiqui who had been with BSP since its formation, is likely to resign from the UP Legislative Çouncil to help BJP to get its ministers, who are not members of any house currently, elected. Mayawati had removed Nasiuddin from the party charging him of bungling in party funds.

On the other hand, Nasiuddin and Indrajit Saroj had charged Mayawati with demanding money from candidates and selling party tickets for money.

Indrajit Saroj said that his main aim was to save the ideology of Dr Àmbedkar and Kansi Ram and alleged that the leaders who had played important role during the formation of BSP were humiliated and harassed by Mayawati and forced to quit the party. He said that he would tour the entire UP and mobilise support from former and present leaders and workers of BSP to come on one platform to expose Mayawati.

Much significance is being attached to the first meeting of Kansi Ram loyalists and the BSP leaders who have been sidelined or removed by Mayawati. According Indrajit, preparations are being made for the first convention of the new outfit at Billing Pasi Quila in Lucknow on August 13.

Kanshi Ram was born into a Punjabi Sikh family and much of his early political work was concentrated in areas of Punjab with a high density of Dalit communities. His vision of politics was one that insisted on social justice for Dalits, other backward classes, adivasis and religious minorities and he groomed leaders for his cause from different communities. Mayawati was one such leader.

The Bahujan Samaj Party that he founded finally won a majority in the Uttar Pradesh elections under the leadership of Mayawati making her the most prominent leader of the party in Uttar Pradesh, although there were other leaders like Sone Lal from the Kurmi community; Swami Prasad Maurya, an OBC leader; RK Chaudhary from a Dalit caste and Om Prakash, representing one of the poorest and most numerous OBC castes in eastern UP..

When Kanshi Ram’s health began failing in the late 1990s, Mayawati gradually assumed control of BSP. Unlike Kanshi Ram, she belonged to the Jatavs, whose numerical strength gave her a huge political advantage. But gradually she was overcome with greed and intolerance, which alienated a large number of leaders and workers who had contributed to the growth of the party in its initial stages. It is the same temperament that landed her in today’s situation, where she is struggling to find her moorings in the Dalit politics. (IPA)