Sarbjit Dhaliwal

Chandigarh: BSP leader Mayawati’s resignation from the Rajya Sabha has passed off as a non-event. It did not cause any tremors in the political circles. She wanted to raise the issue of atrocities on dalits in certain parts of the country but was disallowed. In protest, she resigned.

Why her resignation did not have a desired political effect? Obviously, at the time of announcing her resignation, Mayawati must have thought that her supporters would be out in streets as soon as she moved out of the premises of the Parliament. But nothing such happened.

Reason: Political inertia that has hit the BSP leadership over the years. The BSP’s top brass has started behaving like other mainstream political parties. It has adopted the same work style that is followed by other political outfits such as the Congress. Its leadership became more interested in social engineering and stopped going to people in the countryside.

Kanshi Ram, founder of the BSP, had worked for decades to make it a strong ideological organization committed to the cause of poor sections of the society. Along with young brigade, he moved from village to village, city to city to build the support base of the BSP at the grass root level in 1970-80s. He resisted the temptation to enter the political arena for years, because he was aware of the fact that the “political system” of the country would integrate the BSP in itself and it would be cut from its ideological moorings. His apprehensions proved right.

There has been considerable dilution in the political ideology, approach and philosophy of the BSP since the death of Kanshi Ram some years ago. The process of social engineering, which it first tried in Uttar Pradesh, gave it political dividends for some years but its political presence has faded so much in recent years that it has almost lost its exclusive political identity. At one point of time, it had emerged as a political force to reckon with in Punjab. It had significant presence not only in the State Assembly but also in the Parliament from Punjab.  But now it is completely in doldrums in the state. Many leaders, who made name in political arena because of the BSP, have joined other mainstream parties such as the Congress and Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD). Some of them even have joined the Aam Aadmi Party(AAP). 

There was a time, when all mainstream political parties used to be scared of committed vote bank of the BSP. But it is no longer so. There is a big fall in the influence of the BSP in the state.

Can BSP re-emerge? Yes, It can. The support base of the BSP is intact to some extent in the countryside. It still exists in the memory lane of the poor people especially dalits. But there is no leader to re-energise the support base. 

A committed leader like Kanshi Ram can resurrect the party. Even Mayawati can do it. But she would have to move from village to village, town to town to revive the fortune of the party. It is true that the mainstream parties such as the BJP, the Congress leave no opportunity to project themselves at pro-dalit and pro-poor. But BSP can win back the trust of poor sections of the society provided its leadership decides to go back to them like Babu Kanshi Ram.