UP polls: BSP to organise 'Brahmin Sammelan' at Vrindavan from August 1 post Ayodhya phase

Continuing its outreach programme ahead of the Uttar Pradesh Assembly polls, BSP has now decided to host a 'Brahmin Sammelan' at Vrindavan from August 1. This assumes significance as Lord Krishna is believed to have spent his childhood in this sacred town. Before taking part in the event where a lot of Brahmins are expected to participate, BSP General Secretary Satish Chandra Mishra will visit the famous Banke Bihari temple. 

He claimed that both BJP and Samajwadi Party had failed to do anything for the development of Vrindavan and Mathura as compared to BSP. Earlier on July 23, he offered prayers at the Ram Janmabhoomi in Ayodhya and commenced the party's first phase of the campaign to woo Brahmin voters. Stressing that the real power will come only when Brahmins and Dalits in UP come together, he said, "Brahman community constitute 13 per cent of the state population but are still marginalised because Brahmins are not united".

Brahmin outreach in the run-up to UP polls

In the 2017 Uttar Pradesh Assembly election, BJP won a whopping 312 seats in the 403-member House, whereas BSP could win only 19 seats. On the other hand, the SP-Congress alliance failed to bear fruit as it could win in only 54 constituencies. The Mayawati-led party is eyeing a comeback in the state in the upcoming Assembly election after being out of power for 9 years now. 

Addressing the media on July 18, the BSP supremo contended that Brahmins were very unhappy with the Yogi Adityanath-led government despite overwhelmingly voting for BJP in the previous Assembly election. While acknowledging that her party's seats had nosedived in 2017, the former CM highlighted that BSP retained its vote share. Extending an olive branch to Brahmins, she opined that they were taken in by the saffron party's promises, unlike the Dalit community which stood by BSP.

At the same time, Mayawati exuded confidence that they will duck the trend in the upcoming election by not voting for BJP.  It is pertinent to note that her social engineering had propelled BSP to power in 2007 with the party winning 206 out of 403 seats in the state Assembly. For instance, she allocated nearly 139 seats to the upper caste candidates out of 86 were Brahmins. It is perceived that SC Mishra played a key role in bringing Brahmins close to the party as he organized a series of rallies projecting BSP's poll symbol 'elephant' as Lord Ganesh.