As Rajput anger against BJP simmers in west UP, Mayawati and Akhilesh sense an opportunity, take aim

With discontentment against the BJP simmering in the Kshatriya community in west UP over the lack of tickets for leaders from the community, the Opposition Samajwadi Party (SP) and the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) have sensed an opportunity to deal the ruling party a blow in the region and have reached out to the upper-caste community.

BSP president Mayawati on Sunday raised the issue at an election rally in Ghaziabad, accusing the BJP of ignoring the Kshatriya — also the Rajput or Thakur — community and saying that her party has ensured representation to all communities in ticket distribution. The BSP’s Ghaziabad candidate is Nand Kishor Pudir, a Thakur, while its Baghpat candidate is Praveen Bansal, who is a Gurjar, a community categorised as an Other Backward Class (OBC).

“The Kshatriya community’s numbers among the upper caste in UP is very high. It is disheartening to see that BJP and other parties, who claim to be supportive of the Kshatriyas, have ignored them, especially in west UP. The BSP has given proper representation to Kshatriyas in the region. In Ghaziabad, we have fielded a Kshatriya candidate. Earlier, we gave the ticket to a Punjabi candidate but later we realised that their population is high in Lakhimpur Kheri. So, we have given the ticket there to a Punjabi Sikh candidate,” Mayawati said at the Ramlila Ground in Ghaziabad’s Kavi Nagar.

The party initially fielded Kaushambi-based businessman Anshay Kalra from Ghaziabad. But a few days later, the party changed its decision and Pundir was given the Ghaziabad ticket while Kalra was moved to the Kheri Lok Sabha constituency.

Mayawati said she welcomes the decision of the Kshatriya community’s mahapanchayats to support the party that fields the most Thakur