IT’S NOT just the BSP that is reaffirming its commitment to Dalit leader and its founder Kanshi Ram on his death anniversary Thursday, with BSP chief Mayawati holding a rare public rally not linked to immediate elections, in Lucknow. The Samajwadi Party (SP), the BSP’s main rival in state politics, and ally Congress have also planned a series of events to honour Kanshi Ram.
If the BSP’s survival rests on the Dalits continuing to see it as a viable option, the SP has been seeking to expand its umbrella beyond its Muslim-Yadav base.
The Mayawati rally, planned on the expansive grounds of the Kanshi Ram Memorial in Lucknow, is a show of strength by the BSP, with the party saying it is expecting more than 2 lakh leaders and workers from across the state to come to pay tributes to the party founder. The last time Mayawati addressed such a meeting at the memorial was four years ago, in 2021.
The BSP’s local unit has booked the Ramabai Ambedkar Maidan on the outskirts of Lucknow to accommodate the visiting workers. Party sources said Mayawati will announce the launch of the party’s campaign for the 2027 Assembly elections in her speech.
The Kanshi Ram Memorial, formally called ‘Manyawar Shri Kanshi Ram Smarak Sthal’, was developed on 60 acres of land under the Mayawati government (2007-2012) in the state. The central atrium of the memorial holds 18-ft-high bronze statues of Mayawati and Kanshi Ram.
Not too far away, the SP will hold a ‘Shradhanjali Samaroh’ for Kanshi Ram, followed by an address by Akhilesh at a Dalit gathering being organised by the party’s Mohanlalganj (SC-reserved) MP R K Chaudhary, who was a founder member of the BSP along with Kanshi Ram.
It is the first such event of this scale by the SP for Kanshi Ram. In the recent past, facing the rise of the BJP and its outreach to Dalits, the SP has been honouring Kanshi Ram too, but that has been more at an individual level by its leaders.
The Congress programmes to mark Kanshi Ram’s death anniversary are planned at its state headquarters, plus at the level of districts, Assembly seats and block headquarters. “Floral tributes will be paid and the ideas of Kanshi Ram ji will be discussed at the programmes,” UP Congress spokesperson Anshu Awasthi said.
Mayawati, which saw the BSP plunge to a new low of one seat and 12.8% votes in the 2022 UP Assembly polls, has hit out at both the SP and Congress, saying they had always adopted a “highly casteist and deceitful” approach towards Kanshi Ram and were “pretending” to honour his legacy now. She also accused the SP of betraying Kanshi Ram during his lifetime and attempting to weaken the BSP movement in Uttar Pradesh.
The BSP chief pointed to the SP government changing the name of ‘Kanshiram Nagar district’, created by her government in 2008, to Kasganj, and said this reflected its “caste prejudice and political malice”.
Mayawati also questioned why neither the SP nor the Congress governments (in the state and at the Centre, respectively) declared even a single day of official mourning after Kanshi Ram died in 2006, despite “the entire country, especially UP, being in grief”.
The repeated attempts by the SP and Congress to remember Kanshi Ram “from time to time” were nothing but “political opportunism and a sham aimed at vote bank politics”, Mayawati said, urging people to be cautious of such parties.
Asked about Mayawati’s remarks, SP MP Chaudhary said, “After his death, Kanshi Ram ji is not just a BSP leader but has become a mahapurush (great man) for the entire society. Everyone is free to learn and discuss the ideas of Kanshi Ram. The SP is holding a programme to pay tribute to him and discuss his ideas. Mayawati ji should not have any objection.”