Siddharth has been accused of encouraging groupism and anti-party activities. The sudden move has put off senior functionaries who feel this won't help the party.
It started with Mayawati stating in booklet circulated among party workers that Akhilesh refused to take calls from her and senior party leaders, leading to end of alliance in 2019.
Lokniti-CSDS data shows NDA lost big chunk of non-Jatav Dalit votes to INDIA bloc. But analysts say SP may find it hard to sustain voter coalition that includes both Dalits & Yadav base.
Mayawati’s party’s political fortunes are growing dimmer with each poll as since 2014, Dalit vote has shifted significantly to BJP. BSP’s core Jatav votebank is also seen as drifting away.
BSP, which won 10 seats in alliance with SP & RLD in 2019 LS polls, will go it alone this yr. This decision may have led its MPs to look to other parties with 'winnability factors'.
BSP MP Shyam Singh Yadav says many within party are in favour of joining INDIA alliance. However, TMC chief Mamata Banerjee has said Mayawati will not join INDIA bloc.
Akash Anand, the 28-yr-old with an MBA degree, was introduced to BSP workers in 2017. Mayawati says he will now oversee party’s poll prep in all states except UP & Uttarakhand.
A Dalit vote for BJP is viewed as a step back from Ambedkarite goals. New book Maya Modi Azad: Dalit Politics in the Time of Hindutva explains BSP’s decline.
Nick Jonas is not trying to modernise the mangalsutra, but his gesture shows that choices can be equal. If commitment must be flaunted, it need not be gendered.
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