Lucknow, June 16 (UNI) Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) chief and former Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati has stepped up her outreach to the Other Backward Classes (OBCs) ahead of the 2027 Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections, asserting that the community's welfare and interests can be safeguarded only under a BSP government.
This was stated in a statement issued by the BSP on Tuesday. Mayawati said that the OBC community played a historic role in helping the BSP form its first full-majority government in the state in 2007. The party is now preparing at the grassroots level to repeat that history in the 2027 elections.
She said that meetings held in Lucknow over the past several days included a thorough review of the party's OBC support base and related activities. Party officials were instructed to further strengthen the belief among OBCs that their welfare lies only with the BSP.
Without naming any party, Mayawati attacked her political opponents. She said that while other parties may promote individuals for political and electoral gains, their approach to the social, political, and economic development of OBCs has remained narrow-minded and casteist.
Referring to the Mandal Commission report, she said that opposition parties had strongly opposed the 27 per cent reservation and were still attempting to weaken it. In contrast, she claimed, the BSP supported the implementation of the Mandal Commission recommendations from its inception and, upon coming to power, ensured that the OBC community could live with self-respect as guaranteed by the Constitution.
An official statement issued by the party said that the BSP government laid a strong foundation for "social change and economic liberation" by giving due respect and recognition to social reformers such as Mahatma Jyotiba Phule and Rajarshi Chhatrapati Shahuji Maharaj.
Mayawati alleged that the BSP government was the first to create separate ministries, commissions, and welfare schemes for the development of Dalits and OBCs, but that these initiatives have now been reduced to mere paperwork.
She said that the intentions and policies of the current governments are flawed, which is why the condition of the OBC community has not improved.
The BSP chief said that merely lamenting the situation would not solve the problem. The real solution, she said, is for the community to take the "master key" of power into its own hands. She called upon OBCs to transform themselves from the exploited into the ruling class through the BSP.
UNI MBD AAB