UP polls: After BSP, SP to hold Brahmin Sammelan from August 23; attacks BJP over ‘insult’

Following BSP, the Samajwadi Party (SP) has decided to hold a 'Brahman Sammelan' in Baliya from August 23, sources reported on Saturday. SP chief Akhilesh Yadav met with five Brahmin leaders and have decided to woo the Brahmin voters starting from Purvanchal, said sources. SP's rival - BSP held a Brahman Sammelan at Ayodhya, offering prayers at the Ram Janmabhoomi. The 403-seat UP assembly is set to go to polls on February 2022.

SP to hold Brahman Sammelan

SP has formed a five-member committee comprising of Mata Prasad Pandey, Manoj Pandey, Abhishek Mishra, Sanatan Pandey, and Pavan Pandey to reach out to Brahmans. Speaking to the media, Pavan Pandey said, " Today, Uttar Pradesh's Brahman Samaj is with Akhilesh Yadav. From 2017 to date, Brahmans have been killed, encountered and framed under false cases. Khushi Dubey (Vikas Dubey's nephew's niece) was married for two days, widowed for three and jailed on the fourth day. We asked BJP what was her crime, they have not yet answered". 

17-year-old Khushi Dubey got married to Abhay Dubey three days before the Bikru massacre on July 2, 2020, in which nine cops were killed. Later, her husband Abhay was killed on July 13 and she was arrested on suspicion of being a gang member. She is currently in Barabanki juvenile shelter. BSP has sought her release.

Pandey added, "Today the Brahman society is frustrated as BJP has insulted them. They have stopped Parashuram Jayanti celebrations. The revenge for this will be taken by Lord Krishna's descendent Akhilesh Yadav in 2022 elections".

BSP lashes out 'BJP don't want Ram Mandir'

On July 23, BSP MP Satish Chandra Mishra started the party’s campaign to woo Brahmin voters by offering prayers at the Ram Janmabhoomi in Ayodhya. Addressing the event, he claimed, "Brahman community constitute 13 per cent of the state population but are still marginalised because Brahmins are not united", stressing that the real power will come only when Brahmins and 23 per cent Dalits in the state unite. Mayawati's Brahmin outreach was considered as one of the key factors for her win in the 2007 UP assembly elections.

Attacking the BJP, Mishra asked the ruling party to give account of the donations collected by it in the name of the Ram temple in the past three decades. The BSP leader alleged that the BJP does not want to built the temple and once his party’s government comes to power, they will "force" them to build it. Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust has stated that the 'eco-friendly' Mandir will open to devotees by 2023 end. AAP too has alleged that under Adityanath's rule, the Brahmin community was being killed and atrocities were being committed against Maurya, Nishad, Bind, Kashyap, Jaat, Gujjar, Valmiki, Kurmi, Yadav, and other communities in UP.