RACE FOR THE DALIT VOTE

When workers of the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) joined the Bharat Bandh called by the Reservation Bachao Sangharsh Samiti on August 21, it was for the first time in eight years that they had taken to the streets.

- Prashant Srivastava

Even as BSP supremo Mayawati was the one to announce the decision, party insiders claim the push came from her nephew Akash Anand. Less than two months after being reinstated as the BSP national coordinator and Mayawati's political heir, Akash is back in the thick of things. When the BSP announced its alliance with the Indian National Lok Dal (INLD) for the Haryana assembly election slated for next month, it was again Akash who addressed the joint press conference in Chandigarh on July 11.

In the ever-evolving political landscape of Uttar Pradesh, the BSP finds itself at a crossroads. Mayawati, known for her iron grip on the party, made a surprising U-turn in June by reinstating her 29-year-old nephew on the posts that he was made to vacate just about a month and a half prior. The decision came on the heels of the party's dismal performance in the Lok Sabha election. The BSP's successive setbacks have created a vacuum in Dalit politics, one that emerging leaders like the 37-year-old Bhim Army chief Chandrashekhar Azad are eager to fill. His victory in the Nagina Lok Sabha seat, securing over 51 per cent of the vote share, has positioned him as a rising star in Bahujan politics.