Mayawati seeks electoral victory as gift from party workers.
The ruling Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) on Sunday announced all the 403 candidates for the coming Uttar Pradesh assembly poll on the 56th birthday of party president and state chief minister Mayawati.
She also released an appeal to electorates for the UP poll to elect the 16th Vidhan Sabha. The BSP never releases a formal poll manifesto like other parties, but an appeal. Her birthday celebration at party office was sans the usual pomp and the announcement of development schemes worth several crores of rupees like earlier years due to the model code of conduct.
Last year, Mayawati had unveiled development projects and schemes worth Rs 4,000 crore amidst a battery of top bureaucrats, ministers and party leaders lining up to seek her blessings. This year, only three party leaders, state BSP president Swami Prasad Maurya, cabinet minister Naseemuddin Siddiqui and party general secretary Satish Chandra Mishra were present and welcomed her with bouquets.
Addressing media persons, Mayawati said she had directed party leaders and workers to observe her birthday with family and their brethren. “I want the party cadres and leaders to work harder to bring back BSP to power in UP, which would be the biggest birthday gift to me,” said a beaming Mayawati wearing an embroidered pink salwar suit and a brown overcoat. She said BSP had released candidates’ list in one go unlike in ‘bits and pieces’ like other parties. She also unveiled the Hindi and English editions of ‘A travelogue of my struggle ridden life and movement Vol 7’, which narrates the achievements of BSP movement in the social milieu in the previous year.
Mayawati noted that the society had never acknowledging the contribution of dalit leaders and it was important to preserve the history of the BSP movement through texts.
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Meanwhile, the party list contains candidates from all segments of society, including scheduled castes (88), other backward castes (113), minorities (especially Muslims, 85) and upper castes 117 (brahmins 74, kshatriyas 33). She said the party units in Punjab and Uttarakhand would announce candidates for their state polls on Sunday.
Mayawati maintained that in the distribution of tickets, care had been taken to choose candidates with clean image, dedication to BSP philosophy and initiative to work for the development of their areas.
“In the 2007 UP poll, leaders of other party deserters had managed to get BSP tickets and were elected. But, they worked for their personal agenda and brought bad name to our government and party,” she claimed adding such leaders had a bad influence on the party cadre.
She underlined that her government and party had taken action against such legislators and ministers. In recent months, action had been taken against 20 ministers and legislators on corruption charges. Several of these leaders have turned coat and joined other parties.