Fear of Political Sanyas Spurred Mayawati’s Resignation from RS

Realising the enormity of threat posed by BJP, Mayawati is trying hard to project herself as the messiah of Dalits.

(Photo: The Quint)

BSP supremo Mayawati’s dramatic resignation from the Rajya Sabha protesting that she was not allowed to speak in the House on atrocities against Dalits was not an impulsive reaction. It appears instead to be a calculated move with the tacit support of the rest of the Opposition to turn the tables on the BJP over the sensitive issue of the plight of Dalits in the country.

The two may well be working in tandem in response to concerted efforts by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP president Amit Shah to poach the Dalit vote, the most recent example being their choice for the post of Indian President.

Also Read: BSP’s Decline: Has Mayawati’s Social Engineering Strategy Failed?

Resignation Tantrum

• Mayawati’s resignation is a calculated move to turn the tables on BJP on Dalit issues
  
• Walkout aimed at branding BJP anti-Dalit after the party nominated Kovind for President
  
• There is a possibility of an SP-BSP alliance, given the threat posed by BJP
  
• Mayawati’s political decline is evident in the disillusionment among youth with her moderate version of Dalit politics
  
• Agitational approach of radical groups like Bhim Army poses existential threat to BSP

Why Is Behenji Throwing a Tantrum?

This is not the first time that Behenji has been heckled while speaking in the House or the Chair has tried to restrict the duration of her intervention.

So the tantrum that she threw in the House before storming out as well as her resignation letter to the Vice-President Hamid Ansari who heads the Rajya Sabha are aimed at drawing attention to herself as the most credible spokesperson for the Dalits and also use the drama inside the house to brand the BJP as anti-Dalit.

It is interesting to note how swiftly a variety of Opposition leaders have come out to support Mayawati on her resignation.

The Congress, led by Leader of the Opposition in the Rajya Sabha Ghulam Nabi Azad, walked out almost immediately after she left in a huff expressing sympathy and support. Left leader in the House Sitaram Yechury was quick to criticise the Treasury Benches for disrupting the Dalit leader as she spoke.

Senior JD(U) leader Sharad Yadav was seen right beside Mayawati as she rocked the Rajya Sabha while RJD supremo Lalu Prasad Yadav lamented that “it was a black day for Indian Parliament when as senior a Dalit leader as Mayawati was not allowed to speak on her community.” He went to the extent of offering the support of his 80-odd legislators to her for another term in Parliament. Her current term runs out next February, a chilling prospect because her party does not on its own have the requisite numbers to re-elect her.

Also Read: EC Rubbishes Mayawati’s Charge, Says EVMs Fully Tamper-Proof

(Photo: IANS)

The End of BSP’s Heyday

Most significantly, even the Samajwadi Party, the long-term rival of the BSP in Uttar Pradesh, has been critical of the BJP in their attempt to browbeat Mayawati.

While participating in a television news show on the day the BSP supremo resigned, a Samajwadi Party panellist openly supported her credentials as a self-made Dalit leader, prompting a BJP spokesperson on the show to ask him whether there was already an alliance in place between his party and the BSP. There is little doubt that given the enormity of the threat that the BJP poses in Uttar Pradesh, such an alliance which would have been unimaginable in the past is a possible scenario in the future.

There are two important aspects to Mayawati’s resignation.

At one level, it is a desperate attempt by the beleaguered leader to reclaim her waning popularity and relevance among her core voter base after a succession of electoral setbacks, each progressively crippling her.

She is a pale shadow of what she used to be and there are indications of her permanent decline now that the era of a political dogfight between upper castes and middle castes in Uttar Pradesh that propelled the rise of the BSP is over.

Also Read: Dalit Fury in Delhi: Bhim Army Accuses Yogi of Siding With Thakurs

(Photo: IANS)

Moderate Dalit Politics Isn’t Working

There is a growing disenchantment with her even within her own Jatav community who almost cast their votes en bloc for the BSP in the UP assembly polls. Young voters are becoming impatient with Mayawati’s moderate Dalit politics, with its outreach to other castes, now that this is no longer paying electoral dividends.

The more agitational approach of radical groups like the Bhim Army is fast gaining appeal, reducing the stature of the BSP supremo. She is being increasingly seen as a spent force unable or disinclined to intervene on behalf of the Dalits.

Her angry gestures and words confronting the BJP in the Rajya Sabha and taking the drastic step to resign for the sake of Dalits is aimed at showing that Behenji still cares for her own flock.

Also Watch: Amedkar’s Army: The Quint Docu

Vested Interests of the Opposition

The other dimension of the resignation drama has to do with the larger issue of the Opposition which, much like Mayawati, finds itself in a corner as the BJP looms larger and larger over India’s political landscape.

Regardless of the many differences that various parties may have had with her in the past, the Opposition now has a vested interest in keeping the BSP supremo alive as a credible Dalit leader.

They know that if she collapses it would hurt not only her, but the entire Opposition, particularly in Uttar Pradesh where hopes are rising of a Bihar-like Mahagathbandhan coming up to stop the Modi juggernaut.

(The writer is a Delhi-based senior journalist. The views expressed above are the author’s own. The Quint neither endorses nor is responsible for the same.)

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