Dalit leader and president of Aazad Samaj Party (ASP) Chandra Shekhar Aazad on Tuesday said the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) deviated from its founding ideas amid indications that party president Mayawati has plans to name her nephew Akash Anand as heir apparent, adding that a leader is born from the ballot box not from declarations.
“Kanshi Ram ji [BSP founder) laid the foundation of the BSP for selfless politics and to serve the downtrodden communities, not families. It is their [the BSP] internal matter, but Mayawati ji has earlier also announced that she will keep relatives away from politics following the path of the BSP founder. The downtrodden communities for whom the BSP was founded would not accept such declarations,” Mr. Aazad told The Hindu.
“Leaders are made by the support of the people and through the power of vote in a democratic setup. The BSP is facing continuous decline due to inaction and autocratic attitude evident from such actions like declaring successors,” added the ASP chief. Mr. Aazad who founded the Bhim Army in 2014, and later a political front Aazad Samaj Party in March 2020 has not tested any electoral success in U.P. but is considered to enjoy support among the Dalit population in western parts of the State.
Standing in western U.P.
Mr. Aazad declared that he will contest the 2024 parliamentary polls from Nagina (Scheduled Caste reserved) constituency in western U.P. “I will fight the Lok Sabha election from Nagina, which comprises five Assembly seats of Bijnor district. We have a good support base. Our members won the zilla panchayat polls in the district,” Mr. Aazad said. Nagina parliamentary seat has a sizeable Dalit electorate with a large part of Bijnor district coming under it after delimitation in 2008. BSP president Mayawati also won from Bijnor Lok Sabha seat in 1989.
On the question of any alliance, the ASP leader replied that a decision will be taken at an appropriate time. The Dalit community constitutes roughly 21 per cent of the State’s population.
Glimmer of hope
Hailing the ASP’s performance in the recently concluded Rajasthan Assembly election where it polled more votes than the BSP in many seats, Mr. Aazad described the ASP as a voice of Dalits and other downtrodden section amid what he described as disappointment from the BSP.
“In Rajasthan assembly election, the ASP which contested 47 seats polled roughly double the votes in comparison to the BSP in these seats. We came second in two seats there. The ASP polled 74,096 votes in Ramgarh Assembly seat and 54,185 votes in Bansur Assembly seat, coming second in both constituencies, under Alwar district. We polled 3,55,336 votes in 47 seats, while the BSP polled 2,10,312 votes in these seats. It shows which way the tide is moving,” added Mr. Aazad.
