UP's upper caste communities politically aware, don't need a separate sangathan: Mayawati

Lucknow: Bahujan Samaj Party chief Mayawati on Saturday said the upper caste community in Uttar Pradesh has become politically aware and that there is no need to form a separate bhaichara sangathan, or brotherhood organisation, to integrate them into the party.

The community will join the BSP on its own after seeing that its interests are protected in the party, she said.

Mayawati chaired a monthly meeting of the district-level 'Pichhda Varg Samaj Bhaichara Sangathan' (brotherhood organisation of backward class community) in Lucknow on Saturday, in a bid to expand the BSP's support base and to strengthen the mission of 'Bahujan Asmita va Samman' (Bahujan identity and honour), according to a party statement.

She reviewed the on-ground implementation of guidelines given at an important meeting she held a few months ago to integrate the OBC (other backward class) community into the BSP.

"The upper caste community in Uttar Pradesh has become politically very aware. There is no longer a need to form a separate 'bhaichara sangathan' to integrate them into the party. The upper caste community, seeing their interests protected in the BSP, will join the party on their own," Mayawati said.

She added that the BSP is based on the principle of 'sarvajan hitaya' and 'sarvajan sukhaya' (for the welfare and happiness of all).

In view of the Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls being carried out by the Election Commission -- first in Bihar and now in 12 states and Union Territories, including Uttar Pradesh -- Mayawati directed that voter enrolments be completed promptly and intelligently as per the poll body's guidelines.

In order to fulfil the constitutional responsibility of voting, it is crucial for all eligible people to register their names in the electoral rolls and obtain voter cards, she said.

"The OBCs are a particularly important part of the Bahujan community and their interests are protected within the BSP. This is well known, as evidenced by the policies of the four BSP governments in Uttar Pradesh, where honest efforts were made to ensure self-respect and employment of all OBC castes. Other parties solely target the community's votes and do nothing concrete for them," Mayawati said.

She said most parties engage in empty rhetoric. The attitude of parties like the Congress, Samajwadi Party and the Bharatiya Janata Party regarding the constitutional rights of OBCs and their reservation in government jobs and education has always been narrow, casteist and hateful, she added.

The BSP chief instructed the 'Pichhda Varg Samaj Bhaichara Sangathan' to intensify its grassroots activities.

The fragmentation of various castes within the OBC community and the formation of separate organisations by some of them have affected their unity and solidarity, a situation that casteist parties often exploit, especially during elections, she said.

The BSP is fighting for the welfare and liberation of Bahujan people -- who have been divided, marginalised and oppressed on the basis of caste for centuries -- by uniting them under the Bahujan Samaj, which is essential for the protection of democracy, Mayawati said.

She added that the sooner the OBC community organises strongly under the BSP banner to gain the master key to power, the sooner their good days will arrive.