No remorse on Dayashankar slur, BJP terms BSP protest as flop

Lucknow: The deprecatory remark of expelled BJP state Vice President Dayashankar about Mayawati notwithstanding, the saffron party is still trying to extract politics out of BSP’s big protest in the state capital on Thursday.

The Bharatiya Janata Party in Uttar Pradesh has termed the Bahujan Samaj Party’s protest as a ‘flop show’ not forgetting to mention the abuses on the hundreds of placards displayed by Mayawati supporters though not as disparaging as the one used by Dayashankar.

The BJP may have expelled the erring BJP leader but the state unit is not looking remorseful and going to the extent weighing the turn out of BSP men on ‘hit’ or ‘flop’ basis.

In fact, no senior leader has come out vociferously against Dayashankar condemning his choise of words against Mayawati, who despite being a senior leader is also a female and the kind of language used about her was reprehensible by all means.

It is surprising that the state BJP spokesman Vijay Bahadur Pathak preferred to play his role rather seriously when he tweeted that the BSP show was a ‘flop’. He also demanded ‘respect’ for Dayashankar by saying ‘Naari to Naari, Samman sabka Hai Bhai’ ( Women are women but ever one commands respect).

#Lucknow में बसपा का धरना पूरी तरह फलाप रहा , हाँ जो भाषाए बोली गए ज़रूर चर्चा का विषय है नारी तो नारी सम्मान सबका है भाई

— vijay bahadur pathak (@vijaybahadurpa) July 21, 2016

Politically speaking, the one word by its leader has upset the apple’s cart of the BJP which had been trying hard to rope in Dalits support, to a successful extent, it seemed. The derogatory remark of Dayashankar has brought the saffron party to square one much to the discomfiture of senior leadership which has put a big stake on the next Uttar Pradesh assembly elections.

According to observers, the party will have to start from the scratch to win back Dalit support, if any. It is no secret that the BJP had eaten into BSP votes in 2014 Lok Sabha elections in Uttar Pradesh and had pocketed 73 out of 80 seats in the state. Now it will be a fresh game for them as far as the strategy for the assembly polls is concerned.