BSP chief Mayawati in Lucknow on June 25.
| Photo Credit: PTI
Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) president Mayawati on Monday targeted the Samajwadi Party (SP) over its decision to appoint a Brahmin MLA as the Leader of Opposition in the Uttar Pradesh Assembly. Ms. Mayawati claimed that the SP secured the votes of the PDA (Pichda, Dalit, and Alpsankhyak or Backwards, Dalits and Minorities) community to win a large number of seats in the Lok Sabha by “misleading” them but ignored the group while appointing the Leader of Opposition in Uttar Pradesh.
Earlier in the day, the SP appointed seven-time MLA Mata Prasad Pandey as the Leader of Opposition leading to a political slugfest with the ruling BJP lashing out at the principal Opposition party for not making any backward class person or Dalit as the Leader of Opposition. The BJP described the appointment as a betrayal of backward classes and Dalits.
The appointment of a Brahmin leader to the key post in the State holds significance amid the SP’s continuous outreach towards the PDA group.
“The SP chief got the votes of the PDA by misleading them in the Lok Sabha elections, especially in the guise of saving the Constitution, but the fact that these groups were ignored in time of making the leader of the opposition in the U.P. Assembly, it is a matter of concern,” Ms. Mayawati posted on X.
The former four-time U.P. CM cautioned the Brahmin community as well as the Backwards, Dalits and minorities that except one particular caste, there is no place for any social group in the SP.
“Whereas in the SP, there is no place for the rest of the PDA except for one particular caste. Definitely not for the Brahmin community because the oppression and neglect they have faced in the SP and BJP government is not hidden from anyone. In fact, their development and upliftment happened only in the BSP government. Therefore, these people must be careful,” she added.
