Brahmin desertions a big worry for Mayawati

The Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) is suddenly wary of Brahmins in Uttar Pradesh (UP) who are gradually drifting towards Congress.

BSP general secretary Naseemuddin Siddiqui spoke to the media on Thursday and said Brahmins had always been given a place of pride in BSP. He denied reports that a large number of Brahmin government advocates had been sacked indiscriminately.

“Opposition parties are playing petty caste politics by spreading canards about BSP,” Siddiqui told reporters. He said 150 government advocates had recently been dropped for poor performance, but only a small section of them were Brahmins.

BSP looks understandably wary on this count as chief minister Mayawati had been pursuing a pro-active Dalit agenda. It was a Dalit-Brahmin mix that brought Mayawati a majority vote in the 2007 UP assembly election. Mayawati seems to have realised once again that Brahmins, if neglected, could drift towards the Congress.

The issue blew up after Mayawati limited the role of Satish Chandra Mishra, the party’s Brahmin face, to the BSP’s legal cell. He was kept away from party affairs.

Within a few days, UP sacked 150 government advocates, all Brahmins, and all reportedly Mishra’s appointees.

This was seen as clipping of Mishra’s wings, as also a calculated diversion from the party’s earlier policy of maintaining the Dalit-Brahmin equilibrium in the party.