Bahujan Samaj Party supremo Mayawati has announced her party's candidates for all the 80 seats of the lok Sabha from Uttar Pradesh, brimming with confidence due to her traditional vote-banks based on caste, creed and religion.
There is obviously no dissent over her selection — something that we find in the other political parties. This clearly proves that even after 66 years of independence, caste loyalties still rule the roost in parties such as the BSP.
While national parties like the BJP, the Congress and left have been able to nurture democratic traditions by and large, regional parties such as the BSP, the Samajwadi Party, the Trinamool Congress, the DMK and the AIADMK are still based mainly on caste and minority appeasement factors. They also have a feudal mindset since the parties are ruled by the whims and fancies of one supreme leader. They don't bother about offering the people a development agenda. All they want is to somehow halt Mr Narendra Modi's march.