Kanshiram birthday to be a big event to motivate BSP workers

LUCKNOW: Facing sharp criticism for ignoring the principles of her mentor Kanshiram, Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) chief Mayawati has decided to celebrate her mentor's birthday on Sunday in a big way. She has asked party cadres to get party functionaries from all 403 assembly constituencies of UP to the Kanshiram Smarak in Lucknow to pay homage to the dalit leader on his 81st birthday.
BSP sources said that even though Mayawati will stay in Delhi, her party functionaries, essentially booth and sector coordinators, from these constituencies would be ferried in buses to the Kanshiram Smarak.
A BSP leader said that the party hopes that the memorial would instil a sense of pride in party workers whose morale has been dampened by repeated electoral reverses in the recent times.
The functionaries would then pay tribute to the BSP founder through a `Buddh Vandana' and garlanding the 18-feet-tall bronze statue of Kanshiram at the smarak. BSP state president, Ram Achal Rajbhar said that besides the booth and sector level coordinators, all zonal coordinators, MLAs and MPs have also been asked to reach Lucknow on the day.
The party has also chosen to the occasion to hold a state level review meeting to assess its preparation for local body elections later this year and subsequent assembly elections due two years away.
``We would take stock of the party's preparedness for the panchayat elections as well as assess the pace of Bahujan movement and its reach at the grass root,” said Rajbhar. He said that the party would also be reviewing the progress of the move to give responsibility to youth.
Estranged BSP MP, Jugal Kishore, now a critic of Mayawati, said that her respect for Kanshiram is and is just another attempt to befool people.
“Mayawati has not been able to get Bharat Ratna for Kanshiram though she had been supporting the UPA government,'' said Kishore, who has now dashed off a communique to the Prime Minister’s Office seeking Bharat Ratna for Kanshiram and declaring his birthday as a public holiday. “I have also sought installing a picture and a statue of Kanshiram in the premises of Parliament house,'' he said.