BSP supremo Mayawati is reinventing her famed “social engineering” strategy, which in its new avatar seeks to carry out a caste head count in the state. “Social Engineering II” is being attempted by the ruling BSP in UP as a more focused approach at the grassroots level in contrast to the broader alignment of dalits and brahmins in its earlier avatar.
Ms Mayawati is learnt to have put the party machinery in overdrive to complete the caste head count in the next six months. “The party cadre at the booth level has been asked to conduct the exercise. They will not be knocking at the doors of residents. The exercise will be based on inputs collected at the grassroots levels,” said a senior BSP functionary.
The BSP top brass has reportedly told Ms Mayawati the social engineering strategy, as scripted for the 2007 state elections, has outlived its utility and has been dented with the brahmins drifting away. “The party is not very confident of the support of the brahmins now. The 2009 LS?elections indicated that the party needs to reinvent its social engineering,” added the party functionary.
With the reinvented strategy, the BSP is looking at better candidate selection and revamping the party leadership at the local level based on caste data collected at least a year before the elections. “The caste head count will help the party arrive at a formidable caste equation. The BSP is now looking at dalits, most backward castes and Muslims as its new support base. It will help identify which groups to focus on among the most backward castes apart from the non-Yadav OBC,” the functionary revealed.
The exercise will involve collecting data about beneficiaries at the grassroots level during the term of Ms Mayawati. “The party wants to know who has been left behind in getting benefits from the BSP-led government. This will help the party make amends before the polls. The data about those having benefited will be part of the campaign,” the functionary said.