BJP MP Sushil Modi scoffs at SP-BSP's Brahmin outreach; reminds 'Tilak, Tarazu..' slogan

Scoffing at the SP-BSP's 'Brahman outreach', BJP MP Sushil Modi on Tuesday, reminded how BSP had coined the slogan 'Tilak tarazu aur talwar, inko maro jute char’ (Brahmin, baniya and thakur, thrash them with shoes). Pointing at the irony that SP-BSP is now wooing the same Brahmin community, Modi chalked it to poll tactics. In comparison, Modi claimed that the BJP does not do such 'community-based' politics, believing in 'Sabka Saath, sabka vikas and Sabka Vishwas'.

Sushil Modi: 'Tilak, Tarazu....'

Mayawati kicks off UP poll campaign with Brahmin outreach

On Tuesday, BSP Supremo Mayawati addressed the  'Prabudh Sammelan' in Lucknow - her first public rally since 2020 Delhi polls. Wooing the Brahmin community, Mayawati assured that once a BSP govt with full majority is elected, the community will be taken care of. Promising a 'high-level inquiry' into the wrongs done against the Brahmin community, Mayawati urged the community to vote for her just like in 2007.  Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Punjab, Gujarat, Manipur, Goa and Himachal Pradesh is set to go to polls in 2022.

Wooing the Brahmins, she said, "People of Brahmin community have started saying that the government of BSP has been better than of all other parties. With the formation of the BSP govt, complete care will be taken of the Brahmin community along with other communities. Just like 2007, we have to make a BSP govt with a full majority this time too. Whatever wrong was done with the Brahmin society, a high-level inquiry will be conducted. Action will be taken against the guilty officers."

Last month, the BSP – which counts on Dalit votes – began a series of “prabuddha varg sammelans” (intellectuals’ meetings) to woo Brahmins ahead of next year assembly polls. The Samajwadi Party is also set to launch a similar exercise. On July 23, BSP MP Satish Chandra Mishra kicked off the first event in Bareilly stating both Dalits and Brahmins are living in fear in the state due to BJP. Mayawati's Brahmin outreach was considered as one of the key factors for her win in the 2007 UP assembly elections.

UP polls 2022

With BJP fighting under the leadership of incumbent CM Yogi Adityanath, several fronts have cropped up to challenge the ruling BJP. While Suheldev Bharatiya Samaj is eyeing an alliance with AIMIM, Azad Samaj Party, Pragatisheel Samajwadi Party; parties like AAP, Shiv Sena, and JDU have announced that they will be contesting for the UP polls. Samajwadi Party and BSP have decided to not ally and shut their doors to Congres, opting to ally with smaller parties if needed or go solo. Since then, Congress has aggressively campaigned under the leadership of Priyanka Gandhi in the state, eyeing its solo return. The 403-seat where Yogi rules with an iron-clad majority of 314 seats, is up for grabs in February 2022.