The BSP's rise in Maharashtra hinges purely on about 350-odd sub-castes, lower in the backward class hierarchy, that are traditionally with the Congress and now the NCP.
NAGPUR: Will it? Will the BSP's Brahmin card work in Maharashtra the way it did in Uttar Pradesh? With Brahmins constituting a minuscule four per cent of the states' population, and Ambedkarites (the neo-Buddhist converts) refusal to side with the BSP, most political pundits believe it won't.
However, it is more than just fluke that the BSP has decided to rope in Brahmin priests in north and western Maharashtra.
While it may seem the 'Elephant' needs a Brahmin mahout for its march, it'll be foolhardy to think that it's a one-sided deal. BSP sources, currently giving final touches to a well-thought out strategy, are confident the formula will rework the entire socio-political set up here.
Brahmins are important to get to the other backward classes, says BSP state president Vilas Garud. Insiders explain that the backward classes would accept the leadership of a Dalit easily, if the Brahmins do it first.
"That's why Sudhirdas Mahant is our Brahmin face in the state," explains a party insider. The Mahant had shot into news two years ago when he said that his grand father, the priest at Nashik's Kalaram temple, had committed a mistake by not letting in Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar and his followers 70 years ago.
The BSP's rise in Maharashtra hinges purely on about 350-odd sub-castes, lower in the backward class hierarchy, that are traditionally with the Congress and now the NCP.
BSP feels that these communities constitute about 35 per cent of the state's population and are aware of their political "exploitation" by mainline political parties. They are looking for a political alternative, and BSP thinks it can fit the bill. Strategically, Mayawati asked her cadres to first mobilize the 35 per cent OBCs. This has enabled it to throw a formidable electoral combination that can yield results.
Interestingly, an unidentified Brahmin priest is learnt to be behind the BSP's new political posturing. Some 15 years ago, the same priest had given a comprehensive paper to the BJP on what he thought would bring about social engineering and benefit the saffron alliance to overthrow the Congress. The paper was relegated to trash then. BSP sources say the same priest reworked his 15-year-old paper and gave it to the party. This time, they are working on it!
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