AYODHYA: Samajwadi Party stalwart and former Speaker, Mata Prasad Pandey, who attended the Brahmin summit organised by the party at Ambedkarnagar’s Katheri constituency on Sunday, said, the Akhilesh Yadav-led party would field maximum Brahmin candidates, particularly in eastern UP to help SP storm back to power.
“Brahmins have been persecuted by current BJP government and the anger in the community is palpable. Brahmins, who constitute 13% of the population, will get a lion’s share of tickets this time and we will tap this simmering angst to notch up a poll victory,” he told TOI. Brahmins are self-reliant and don’t seek benefits from the government, but they are ready to die to uphold self-respect, he added.
Most Brahmin leaders from 20 UP districts who participated in the conclave echoed the former Speaker’s views, even as the organisers rallied those present with the battle axe of Lord Parshuram and announced a “dharm yudh” against the anti-people policies of BJP government.
Talking to TOI, party vice-president Jai Shankar Pandey while skirting a query on whether Samajwadi Party was trying to replicate Mayawati’s social engineering formula, said, “Each district will have one or two Brahmins in the fray on a Samajwadi Party ticket.”
The summit at Katehri, 45km off Ayodhya, coincided with ‘Jan Vishwas Yatra’ flagged off by BJP national president J P Nadda in Akbarpur, headquarter of Ambedkar Nagar district.
The conclave began with a ‘shankhnaad’ (blowing of conches), followed by a ‘hawan’ and recitation of ‘sundar kand’. Then Brahmin icon Parshuram’s battle axe motif along with conches were distributed among participants.
Talking to TOI, Ashish Pandey Dipu, organiser of Brahmin conclave, said, “Samajwadi Party has always given respect to Brahmins and they are stoutly behind Akhilesh Yadav this time. We distributed battle axes and conches, which symbolise Brahmin pride.”
“Brahmins have been persecuted by current BJP government and the anger in the community is palpable. Brahmins, who constitute 13% of the population, will get a lion’s share of tickets this time and we will tap this simmering angst to notch up a poll victory,” he told TOI. Brahmins are self-reliant and don’t seek benefits from the government, but they are ready to die to uphold self-respect, he added.
Most Brahmin leaders from 20 UP districts who participated in the conclave echoed the former Speaker’s views, even as the organisers rallied those present with the battle axe of Lord Parshuram and announced a “dharm yudh” against the anti-people policies of BJP government.
Talking to TOI, party vice-president Jai Shankar Pandey while skirting a query on whether Samajwadi Party was trying to replicate Mayawati’s social engineering formula, said, “Each district will have one or two Brahmins in the fray on a Samajwadi Party ticket.”
The summit at Katehri, 45km off Ayodhya, coincided with ‘Jan Vishwas Yatra’ flagged off by BJP national president J P Nadda in Akbarpur, headquarter of Ambedkar Nagar district.
The conclave began with a ‘shankhnaad’ (blowing of conches), followed by a ‘hawan’ and recitation of ‘sundar kand’. Then Brahmin icon Parshuram’s battle axe motif along with conches were distributed among participants.
Talking to TOI, Ashish Pandey Dipu, organiser of Brahmin conclave, said, “Samajwadi Party has always given respect to Brahmins and they are stoutly behind Akhilesh Yadav this time. We distributed battle axes and conches, which symbolise Brahmin pride.”
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