Akhilesh poster boy in BSP call for opposition unity

NEW DELHI: BSP chief Mayawati appears finally to be warming up to her political opponents. The former UP chief minister who parried opposition overtures for a united front to counter the saffron surge less than six months ago, has signalled she was ready to share space with arch rival SP to resist a common enemy—the BJP.

On Sunday, BSP, on its official twitter handles, put out a poster bearing Mayawati’s picture and issued a call for opposition unity in the larger interest of “social justice”. While the message itself does not appear striking — the opposition have been working in finding a common ground — what gets the attention is the photograph of former UP CM Akhilesh Yadav, Mayawati’s chief baiter in UP polls.

The SP-BSP tie-up, if only as part of ‘Grand Alliance’, won’t be a first. It will be a throwback to 1991, when, at peak of the Ram Mandir movement, then SP chief Mulayam Yadav and BSP founder Kanshiram came together to challenge BJP’s “communal” pitch. They also came up with a slogan: “Miley Mulayam Kanshiram, Hawa Mein Ud Gaye Jai Shree Ram.” “Twenty years on, Mayawati and Akhilesh are coming together for the same purpose.




As a combination that wields its clout between them, on over 60% of the state’s population, SP and BSP, if only for a national cause, has the propensity to hurt the saffron brigade,” said Prof Sudhir Panwar, political scientist.

Party functionaries said the BSP chief was alive to the need of the opposition parties to come together in order to take on thBJP in next Lok Sabha elections. “If Mamata can share the platform with the CPM despite differences , Behenji is also willing to work with all opposition parties for a larger common purpose,” a member said.