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Mayawati gets a rival as Chandrashekhar to take political plunge

Last Updated 03 March 2020, 02:00 IST

Struggling to maintain her grip over her party's core vote bank, BSP supremo Mayawati could soon have a rival in the form of SC leader and Bheem Army president Chandrashekhar alias Ravan.

Chandrashekhar has declared that he will form a political party in the next few days and has invited former and disgruntled BSP leaders to join him in 'fighting' for the rights of the ''dalits, minorities and other oppressed'' communities in the country.

Thirty-seven-year-old Chandrashekhar, who has, of late, emerged as the 'poster boy' of the anti-CAA protests in the country, told reporters here that the new political outfit would be announced formally ''very soon''.

Sources said that the new party could be announced as early as next week. ''Joining politics has become a necessity for me,'' he said.

Sources said that several former and current BSP leaders were likely to join Chandrashekhar's political outfit.

Although Chandrashekhar had earlier offered to work with Mayawati, he decided to go solo and form his own separate political outfit after her rebuff.

Chandrashekhar had shot into limelight after he led protest rallies of the SC community in Saharanpur following killing of two SC members allegedly by the 'thakurs' during a procession last year. He had been arrested and the BJP government in the state had slapped the National Security Act (NSA) on him.

The BSP supremo has been trying hard to portray Chandrashekhar as a BJP 'agent' and cautioning her supporters not to ''fall prey'' to his 'machinations'.

She even dubbed the Bheem Army president's arrests on several occasions as ''political drama'' intended to be in the limelight. ''He intentionally gets himself arrested just to be in the news,'' Mayawati had remarked after his arrest in Delhi during an anti-CAA protest.

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(Published 02 March 2020, 21:43 IST)

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