Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) convener and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Wednesday met the father of BSP supremo Mayawati during a ceremony to commemorate the birth anniversary of Dr BR Ambedkar at Ambedkar Bhawan in Central Delhi’s Jhandewalan area. Kejriwal had touched the feet of Mayawati’s father Prabhu Dayal and was seen talking to him.
Sources said that Kejriwal hailed Mayawati and her contributions to uplift the Dalit community. Political pundits say that Kejriwal may align with Mayawati for the upcoming Assembly polls in Uttar Pradesh since she has not joined the Janata Dal bandwagon and vote banks of both AAP and BSP are the same. When asked, AAP leaders said that it was a courtesy meeting/gesture to touch her father’s feet by Kejriwal. “There was no politics behind it,” they added.
“Both Dalits and minority communities have voted for the AAP in the recent Assembly polls in Delhi. Dalits and minority are also considered as BSP vote bank in UP. The AAP and the BSP may join hands in UP to avoid the division of Dalit votes,” said political pundits.
It may be noted that minority community had not voted for the BSP in the last UP Assembly polls as they had preferred Mulayam Singh Yadav’s Samajwadi Party. “Mayawati needs help from AAP and Kejriwal in UP to wean away minority community votes,” political watchers said. Dalits and Muslims hold the key in UP politics.
Besides, both Mayawati and Kejriwal did not join the Janata bandwagon. This has raised apprehension that both the leaders may join hands in future. If the BSP forged pre-poll alliance with the AAP, they may poise a bigger threat to Janata Parivar and the BJP.