BSP to ditch donation tradition on Mayawati's 61st birthday

Lucknow: Breaking its usual tradition, the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), this year, will not accept donations on the day when the party chief Mayawati will celebrate her 61st birthday on January 15.

The celebrations would be restricted to just the cake cutting ceremony.

Sources close to the party have said that workers have been also advised to not distribute sweets and freebies to poor in order to maintain the guidelines of the election code of conduct.

BSP, every year, celebrates Mayawati’s birthday as ‘Arthik Sahyog Diwas’, the practice started by party founder Kanshi Ram.

A BSP zonal coordinator has been quoted as saying, “Celebrations will be the party’s internal affair, but we cannot stop supporters from attending the function.”