Owaisi takes a leaf out of Kanshi's book on Babasaheb

Lucknow: All India Majlis-E-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) chief Asaduddin Owaisi may have done a Kanshiram while addressing a public rally in Bikapur on Thursday.
The firebrand Muslim leader from Hyderabad not only focused on Dalits but also raised a Kanshiram-like slogan , "Baba Tera Mission Adhura...Owaisi Karenge Poora." The slogan, political analyst observed, was straight out of what Kanshiram came up with when he formed the Bahujan Samaj Party in 1984 "Baba Tera Mission Adhura...Kanshiram Karenge Poora."
BSP old timers recall that the clarion call, with reference to Bhimrao Ambedkar ( 'Baba' refers to Ambedkar), was scripted by Kanshiram himself when he successfully structured a political outfit out of a Dalit movement initiated by Ambedkar."By coining that slogan, Kanshiram managed to project himself as a successor of Ambedkar to carry out a Dalit movement in UP," said Dalit observer SR Darapuri.
Associates of Kanshiram recall how the Dalit leader left his job as a scientific assistant in DRDO to join an 'Sewa Stambh', a social organisation started by Ambedkar followers in Pune. He later joined Republical Party of India (RPI), a political party formed by Ambedkar in 1927. "Kanshiram later shifted his base to UP. He, though, worked to form a separate political organization but continued to embrace Ambedkar's legacy," said a BSP leader.
"In the absence of BSP, a similar attempt has been made by Owaisi to lap up an otherwise fragile Dalit vote bank from the by polls," said Darapuri. "Raising a slogan like the one by Kanshiram appears to be just part of a larger agenda that Owaisi has," he said. The Hyderabad MP's attempt to make an inroad into Mayawati's Dalit vote bank was also substantiated when he dropped broad hints of his party's possible tie-up with BSP in 2017 assembly elections. While Mayawati has been categorical in saying that she would not enter into any alliance in the run-up to UP general elections, Owaisi's posturing has certainly left tongues wagging in the political circles.
AIMIM, as a matter of fact, has fielded a dalit, Pradeep Kori, while making its electoral debut on UP political soil. This, some BSP leaders said, give Mayawati a chance to get a clear look of an emerging dalit-Muslim combination ahead of UP assembly polls due in a year time.