Maya Jaal: Deciphering The Sound Of Maya’s Deep Silence

By M H Ahssan | INNLIVE

SPECIAL REPORT In the cacophony of the boisterous election campaign in UP, a key player has chosen to keep virtually silent. When you travel across UP, you will rarely hear loudspeakers belting out BSP songs (unlike SP or BJP), nor will you see its banners, posters or TV ads. Nobody from BSP participate in TV debates either. 
    
Although the party is contesting in 520 seats across India, it is almost invisible. Unlike her highprofile, chopper-hopping campaign in the 2012 assembly elections, she has been very selective in her public meetings this time. Does it mean BSP and its leader Mayawati have given up the fight? Far from it. You need to do some deep listening in order to decipher the sound of BSP’s silence. 
BSP state president Ram Achal Rajbhar spells out the party’s strategy: “Our emphasis is to reach out to people without making a big noise,” he says. The aim is to stitch up constituency-level alliances — the BSP core vote of Dalits plus Muslims or Brahmins or some other communities. 
    
Party insiders call it BSP’s three-pronged strategy. One, homogenize her Dalit vote bank — that is, iron out differences, if any, among Dalit sub-castes. Two, pitch for inclusive politics, and three, pledge political empowerment through social engineering. The party has given 40 of the 80 tickets in UP to Brahmins and Muslims, which is clear evidence of its attempt to broadbase its appeal. 
    
In the 2007 assembly elections, this proved to be a winning formula. Compared to 2009, more Brahmins and Muslims have been given tickets this time, but the number of tickets given to OBCs has come down. Mayawati apparently feels that OBCs are likely to go with SP or BJP as both are led by OBC leaders, Mulayam Singh and Modi. 
    
After the Muzaffarnagar riots, BSP has zeroed in on Muslims by highlighting that there were no riots during the Maya regime. “We only need 5-10% Brahmin votes. That plus 20% Dalits votes, and some Muslims, BSP would be on a strong footing. Muslims tend to vote for the candidate who is best placed to beat the BJP candidate, and in many places BSP is better placed to beat BJP,” said a party leader. 
    
To win the trust of Muslims, Mayawati is repeatedly saying that BSP won’t have any truck with BJP after the polls. BSP has been a bedfellow, even if uncomfortable, with BJP in the past. Increasing the trust factor is, therefore, important. Party leader and Maya aide Satish Chandra Mishra recently paid a visit to Nadwa, a venerated seminary in Lucknow, to convey to the clerics the message: BSP will have no truck with BJP. 
    
With Dalits, too, Mayawati has sought to build a united front. The BSP list of candidates includes 17 Dalits, 15 OBCs and eight Thakurs. Of the 17 Dalits, nine are Jatavs and eight are Pasis. The importance of the Pasi vote can be gauged from the fact that in the 85 reserved seats in the 2012 assembly polls, 35 were won by Jatav candidates and 25 by Pasis. Of the 25 Pasis, 21 were from SP and just two from BSP. 
    
Maya has brought into BSP the tallest Pasi leader, R K Chaudhary. Chaudhary, a protégé of Kanshi Ram, had quit BSP after some differences with Mayawati. With him back, BSP is confident that this time the party would get a majority of the SC votes.