Lucknow: Bhim Army chief Chandrashekhar Azad has batted for the Dalit-Muslim unity ahead of the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, stating that the combination can play a major role in the future politics of Uttar Pradesh.
Addressing the ‘Bahujan Samaj Banao’ rally in Bijnor, he advocated harmony between the two communities and underlined importance of social engineering that once was base of the Bahujan Samaj Party.
Azad alleged that the BJP had not addressed needs of the marginalised communities and was afraid of the unity.
“The BJP governments in the state and at the Centre were afraid of unity between Dalits and Muslims. The BJP governments had done nothing significant for both the communities along with other underprivileged communities,” he said.
Many Muslim leaders, including former MLAs Gauhar Khand and Mohammad Ghazi, were present at the event and also tied a blue coloured turban on Azad’s head as a mark of solidarity.
The Bhim Army chief also hinted at taking out a ‘padyatra’ (march) to allegedly expose the BJP.
When asked why the rally was held in Bijnor instead of Saharanpur, Bhim Army leader Kamal Walia stated, “Bijnor has a significant Dalit population and the huge crowd has turned up as expected.
Azad's political posturing hasn't gone down well with Mayawati with the BSP supremo saying that a man who was recently released from jail is trying to call her ‘bua’. "
"I can never have a relation with such people. My party and I will never be associated with people, who were jailed for violence and were freed as part of a strategy against the BSP. If people would have been following the path shown by Baba Saheb and Kanshiram, then they would have come out in support and had taken the BSP movement forward instead of forming a separate outfit,” Mayawati said.
In May 2017, Azad was arrested under the National Security Act (NSA) for his alleged role in fomenting caste violence in Saharanpur. He was has been released on bail.
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