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Is Mayawati's Dalit-Muslim outreach turning away Brahmins?

Pathak, who was seen to be a key figure in Mayawati's social engineering formula that brought her the votes of the Dalits and Brahmins in 2007, said the BSP had failed in its promise to reach out to all sections of society.

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Former BSP leader Brajesh Pathak's phone had not stopped ringing since Monday afternoon with leaders of the party taken by surprise after hearing he was joining BJP trying to reach him. Just a day before the former MP joined BJP in the presence of party chief Amit Shah, he was interacting with the media as BSP supremo Mayawati's confidante at her rally in Agra.

While Pathak claimed his decision was not taken overnight, sources said he was taken aback by the presence of mostly Dalits at the rally. A Brahmin face in the BSP, he was worried that the Dalit and Muslim outreach would turn away the other communities from Mayawati, sources said. The BSP is understood to be giving tickets to over 150 Muslim candidates, the sources said.

Pathak, who was seen to be a key figure in Mayawati's social engineering formula that brought her the votes of the Dalits and Brahmins in 2007, said the BSP had failed in its promise to reach out to all sections of society.

However, he refrained from attacking Mayawati, unlike former BSP general secretary Swami Prasad Maurya, who joined BJP less than two months ago. BJP sources have said that there were several BSP leaders who were keen on joining the party, ahead of the state assembly elections which were around six months away. While the BJP has been claiming that its Uttar Pradesh battle was with the SP, the party's strategy on the ground is aimed at weakening the BSP.

Besides the upper caste votes, the BJP is hoping to win the support of the non-Yadav OBC and sections of the non-Jatav scheduled castes.

While joining the BJP, Pathak confined himself to praising the Modi regime and culture in the BJP. "I thought if I didnt take the decision now, it would be too late," he said. Besides Shah, union minister Mahesh Sharma and senior BJP leaders were also present.

Pathak, the 52-year-old politician from Hardoi, was elected from the Unnao seat in 2004.
 

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