Brahmins boycott BSP'S 'bhaichara' rally

The Bahujan Samaj Party's 'Brahmin Samaj Bhaichara' rally organised here today turned out to be a flop show as most members of the community boycotted it in protest against the party fielding gangster Mukhtar Ansari from the holy city for the coming Lok Sabha election.

The rally, addressed by the BSP's general secretary and Mayawati's chief strategist Satish Chandra Mishra, MP, was attended by only a handful of Brahmins against the party's claim of participation by thousands of community members.

Asked about the thin attendance, one of the BSP's prominent Brahmin leaders said on condition of anonymity, "This has happened in reaction to the candidature of mafia don Mukhtar Ansari from this cultural city."

Professor Reva Prasad Dwivedi, former dean of the Prachya Vidya Dharma Vigyan faculty, Benaras Hindu University, told the Press Trust of India, "Brahmin rally for votes in the Lok Sabha election is totally immoral, and when it is for the mobilisation of voters in favour of a mafia don, it is really unfortunate."

Another professor, Narendra Rampati Tripathi, said the BSP will suffer in the entire state in the Lok Sabha election for fielding Ansari.