In an interesting twist to Dalit vote bank politics in the country, Bhim Army chief Chandrashekhar Azad Ravan on Sunday launched his political party — the Azad Samaj Party (ASP) — marking the birth anniversary of Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) founder Kanshi Ram.

The date of the party’s launch is seen as a direct challenge to BSP supremo Mayawati whose party has so far been the sole claimant of the Dalit votes in Uttar Pradesh and a few other States. As many as 28 ex-MLAs and six former MPs attended the event in neighbouring Noida prompting two former Chief Ministers of Uttar Pradesh — Mayawati and Akhilesh Yadav — to react on the new outfit, saying these are parties with vested interest and would have no political impact.

Chandrashekhar took to social media depicting Dalit leader late Kanshi Ram’s image as his profile status, to officially announce his new political party.

The Azad Samaj Party will make the Uttar Pradesh 2022 Assembly elections interesting as the ruling BJP, the Samajwadi Party (SP), the BSP and the Congress will fight to form their Government.

As many as 98 leaders of the SP, the BSP, the Congress and the Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD) joined the newly launched party.

In the 2017 Assembly polls, the BJP-led NDA won 325 seats with 48.7 per cent votes, the SP won 47 seats with 21.8 per cent votes and the BSP won 19 seats with 22.2 per cent votes.

On the occasion, Azad said the Bhim Army will run parallel to the party and continue to fight for Dalit rights and enroll new members.

The launch ceremony of ASP, however, courted some controversy since the banquet hall manager had shut down the hall before the event as administration has banned large gatherings owing to COVID-19 but on insistence the event was organised outside the hall.

Mayawati said people with vested interests are playing into the hands of rival political parties and claimed they have nothing to do with BR Ambedkar and his movement.

“Even now, people with vested interests are playing into the hands of rival political parties. They have nothing to do with Babasaheb Ambedkar and his movement. Nor they have anything to do with Manyavar Kanshi Ram’s sacrifice and austerity,” Mayawati said without naming the Bhim Army chief.

On the other hand, another former UP Chief Minister and head of Samajwadi Party Akhilesh Yadav exuded confidence and rejected the idea of new political outfits and said as per a palmist SP will win 350 seats in 2022 UP State Assembly elections.

“I have decided that we will win one seat more than 350... Together we will win 351 seats in the 2022 Assembly elections,” Akhilesh said in his Lucknow party office. Yadav added if the Centre does not go for caste-wise census, then the SP will conduct it in Uttar Pradesh after winning the 2022 Assembly polls.

Azad, who rose to prominence during clashes between Thakurs and Dalits in Uttar Pradesh’s Saharanpur in May 2017, had filed nomination against Prime Minister Narendra Modi from Varanasi during the 2019 general elections, but withdrew later.