Dalit Support Assured, Mayawati's Party Chases Brahmin Vote

Gorakhpur: "Tilak lagega haathi par, baaki sab baishaki par (The elephant will get the votes, the rest will be on crutches)": With months to go for assembly elections, it was this slogan that kickstarted a series of Brahmin sabhas or meetings for Mayawati's Bahujan Samaj Party in Uttar Pradesh.

The first such meeting was held in eastern Uttar Pradesh's Gorakhpur town, with the party's Brahmin face, Rajya Sabha lawmaker Satish Chand Mishra, leading the BSP charge.

In oppressive heat, at a rally attended by about 10,000 people, Mr Mishra almost collapsed on the dais, but not before telling his audience that the 14 per cent Brahmins in Uttar Pradesh have no option apart from the BSP.

"You have seen the BJP and I don't need to say anything about the Samajwadi Party. As far as I know, the Samajwadi Party abhors Brahmins. They have removed all Brahmin ministers and thrown them out," Mr Mishra said.

Over the next few months, Ms Mayawati plans to hold 85 such meetings -- all on reserved seats the party feels it has a chance to win.

The party feels that with the Dalit support it already has, the Brahmin vote will be a bonus.

In 2007, when Ms Mayawati won a majority in the state, it was on the back of a unique combination - the majority of 21 per cent Dalit vote coupled with the 14 per cent Brahmin vote.

Party sources say this time, the BSP chief was hoping to consolidate the Dalit-Muslim votebank, giving around 100 tickets each to Muslims and Dalits and just over 30 to Brahmins.

But now, in a late course correction, she wants to the Brahmin votebank too. The party's big Brahmin leader, former Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha member Brajesh Pathak, had recently crossed over to the BJP.

In all this, Ms Mayawati will have an unusual opponent -- the Congress, that's pitching in majorly for the Brahmin vote, getting former Delhi Chief Minister Shiela Dikshit, a Brahmin, as its candidate for the state's top job.