For all practical purposes, it was a Brahmin Sammelan but the Samajwadi chose to call it a “Prabuddh (intellectual) Sammelan”.
Exactly a week after the BSP hosted a Brahmin Sammelan in Lucknow and unabashedly tried to woo brahmins back into the party fold, the Samajwadi Party also made a similar attempt on Friday.
Minister of state Manoj Pandey was the brahmin face of the party and the party openly adopted the late Janeshwar Misra as its brahmin icon.
Speaking on the occasion, Samajwadi Party president Mulayam Singh Yadav said that brahmins had always given the right direction to the country. “Our saints and seers have been brahmins and they have guided us through the ages. Time has come for brahmins to take a lead and guide us through these troubled times,” he said.
Promising to fulfil the aspirations of brahmins, Mr Yadav said that his party and his government would ensure that the community gets the respect and dignity that it deserves. He announced the proposed park in the memory of the late Janeshwar Misra would be one of its kind and bigger than the biggest of parks.
The Samajwadi Party leaders who spoke at the Prabuddh Sammelan underlined the fact that it was Mr Mulayam Singh Yadav who had protected their rights by strongly opposing reservation in promotion. Besides, it was the SP that declared a public holiday on Parshuram Jayanti. The SP is apparently keen to win over Brahmins by taking advantage of the community’s disenchantment with the BSP. The party has already held smaller Brahmin conclaves in Mahoba, Farukkhabad, Barabanki, Sultanpur, Pratapgarh and Kanpur where the brahmin population is sizeable.
SP strategists feel since brahmins play a crucial role in opinion making, especially in the rural interiors, bringing them into the party fold will help the party gain ground in the LS polls. “In any case, brahmins are disillusioned with the BSP that ill-treated its brahmin leaders and kept the goodies for those connected to one particular brahmin family,” said Mr Manoj Pandey.
. In our brahmin rallies, we are repeatedly explaining to our people how they have been fleeced by the BSP,” said Mr Manoj Pandey.