At BSP’s show of strength in Lucknow, Mayawati thanks BJP-led U.P. govt., targets SP

Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) president Mayawati on Thursday said her party will fight the 2027 Uttar Pradesh Assembly election on its own and projected herself as the sole flag-bearer of Dalit and marginalised sections as she attempts to become the Chief Minister of the State for a fifth time.

Addressing a rally on the 19th death anniversary of BSP founder Kanshi Ram in Lucknow, Ms. Mayawati also asked party workers to extend full support to its national coordinator and her nephew Akash Anand. “Just as BSP members across the country stood firmly with me during and after Kanshi Ramji’s lifetime, they should now also stand with Akash in every situation and extend their full support,” she said.

Ms. Mayawati also thanked the Yogi Adityanath-led Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government for keeping its promise to maintain parks and memorials related to Dalit icons built during the BSP rule and attacked the previous Samajwadi Party (SP) government for neglecting those icons. “They [SP] failed to spend a single rupee on their upkeep,” she said.

The BSP president accused the SP of co-opting Dalit icons in its “quest for power”, and said that Dalits, Other Backward Classes and the Muslim community shouldn’t fall prey to the SP’s political tactics.

SP president Akhilesh Yadav retorted and hinted at collusion between the BJP and the BSP. “Because their internal collusion continues that is why they are grateful to the oppressors,” he wrote on X, without naming anyone. Addressing a press conference, Mr. Yadav also said that in today’s political circumstances, the PDA – Pichhda (backward classes), Dalits and Alpsankhyak (minorities) – must be strengthened by following the path shown by Dr. Bhimrao Ambedkar and Kanshi Ram.”