Akhilesh eyes BSP vote bank

Upset at BSP supremo Mayawati's scathing attacks on him and his father, after ending their alliance, Samajwadi Party (SP) president Akhilesh Yadav plans to hit back at his one-time ally by promoting Scheduled Caste (SC) leaders in his party to woo the community, which is considered to be the BSP's vote bank.

According to sources in the SP, Akhilesh has asked his party leaders not to reply to Mayawati's charges as he feels that her (Mayawati) "betrayal" (breaking the Mahagathbandhan) has not gone down well with the BSP supporters.

"Scheduled Caste leaders feel that Mayawati has weakened the fight against the BJP by ending her alliance with the SP," a senior SP leader said and added that the SP stands to gain in such a scenario.

Besides, the SP also plans to appoint its SC leaders to key party posts ahead of the forthcoming Assembly bypolls for 12 seats in the state.

"SC leaders will be appointed to important posts in the party... They will be entrusted with the task of wooing the community," said the leader while speaking to DH.

He said that SP leaders like Indrajit Saroj, who was earlier with the BSP, could be given a key post in the organisation.

He said that Akhilesh has asked party leaders to take up the issues concerning the SCs and hit the streets if there was any injustice to them.

The SP has decided to hold demonstrations to protest the killing of an SC youth in Pratapgarh and alleged rape of a girl from the community in Unnao, sources said.

Akhilesh has also decided to declare his party's nominees for the bypolls well before the date of the polling is announced, sources said.