Mayawati flew in with Kanshi’s ashes from Delhi and claimed that the latter had declared her his political heir during his lifetime.
LUCKNOW: On Wednesday, BSP president Mayawati established two things - an urn containing the ashes of her mentor and BSP founder Kanshi Ram at the Bahujan ‘prerna kendra’ (inspiration centre) here, and herself as the sole and rightful legatee of the Dalits’ ‘messiah’.
Over a lakh of BSP cadres and Kanshi Ram’s followers congregated at the Ambedkar ground here to pay tributes to their late leader as Mayawati flew in with Kanshi Ram’s ashes on a special plane from Delhi.
It was Mayawati’s show of strength all the way. The wily leader used the occasion to demonstrate that the BSP founder’s departure had not diminished her political might and stature in any way.
The BSP chief arrived at the BSP headquarters here at the head of a huge procession. Riding a specially-designed ‘shraddhanjali rath’ atop a mini-truck, Mayawati held out the large shining copper urn for all to see, especially the news channel cameras.
“Manyawar Kanshi Ram ne apne jeevan mein hi mujhe apna ek-maatra rajneetik uttar-adhikari ghoshit kar diya tha,” she said, addressing a large gathering at the party office later (Kanshi Ram had proclaimed me to be his sole political heir during his lifetime itself). A round of applause and slogans of “Kanshi Ram ka khwab adhoora, Behen Mayawati karengi poora” erased doubts, if there were any, about who would carry on Kanshi Ram’s legacy.
In her speech, Mayawati lashed out at the BJP and the Congress, though she expended most of her verbal gunpowder against Mulayam Singh and the Samajwadi Party. She criticised the Congress for not declaring state mourning on Kanshi Ram’s death. “Vajpayee and Mulayam Singh did not even have the decency to pay tributes to ‘Manyawar’ (Kanshi Ram) on his death,” she said.
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