Mayawati rallies trail PM Narendra Modi meets, aimed at hurting BJP

LUCKNOW: In line with her strategy, BSP chief Mayawati attacked PM Narendra Modi in the last of her four mega rallies at Saharanpur too. The BJP has been the primary target of her attacks and she has chosen the location for rallies carefully to disrupt the saffron party’s plans to wean away Dalits and send a message to the Muslims that only the BSP can stop the BJP bandwagon.

Mayawati started her rallies from Agra on August 21. The district is known as the Dalit capital of Uttar Pradesh due to the strong presence of SC/STs in the area. Also the BJP-RSS have been very active in the region, and the ghar wapasi, cow vigilante episodes centred around Agra. The BJP’s Dalit face, Ram Shankar Katheriya, is also an MP from Agra.

In all her four rallies, Mayawati attacked PM Narendra Modi while leaving only a few lines to blast Samajwadi Party chief and her bete noire Mulayam Singh Yadav. Her second rally was held in Azamgarh, which is represented in Parliament by SP chief, with whom the BSP for a share of the Muslim votes.

Interestingly, Azamgarh is equi distance from Varanasi and Gorakhpur and has a large Muslim and Dalit population. While Varanasi is PM Narendra Modi’s constituency, which he has visited regularly, Modi held a rally in Gorakhpur in July end.

The BJP held its national executive in Allahabad and Modi later also addressed a rally there in mid-June. Mayawati held her rally in the city, which is also the home base of state BJP chief Keshav Prasad Maurya, on September 4.

Her last rally was held in Saharanpur on Sunday at the same ground where Modi held his rally to mark two years in power. Modi and several of his cabinet colleagues had also addressed a rally in the west UP distrcit on May 27.

Incidentally, Saharanpur, a minority dominated district, faced the brunt of the Muzzafrangar riots in 2013, as the two districts share extensive borders. Mayawati, who is eyeing big gains in western UP, where the riots are still fresh in people’s mind, held the rally in Saharanpur to reach out to the minorities, assuring them of security if voted to power. Union state minister Sanjeev Baliyan, who has often courted controversy for his remarks, is also from neighbouring Muzzafarnagar