The Bahujan Samaj Party has engaged a new force of youth to woo voters and swing the numbers in favour of the party in the UP Assembly polls in 2022.
“While the new outfit is not commandeered by any well-known BSP leader, they are a bunch of youngsters from various walks of the society who want to carry forward the values of the BSP. These youth might not be BSP workers but a majority of them have engaged in campaigns to make ‘Behen Ji’ (Mayawati) the next chief minister of Uttar Pradesh,” a senior BSP leader said in Lucknow on Saturday.
Some slogans raised by the young activists which were getting popular traction on social media include, ‘Wohi Hamara Sathi Hoga, Jis Jhande Pe Hathi Hoga,’ (Whichever flag carries an elephant will be our companion), ‘Bache Hain Ab Kuch Din Shesh, Behen Ji Sambhalengi Uttar Pradesh’, (Only a few days are left and now Behen Ji will take care of Uttar Pradesh) and ‘Jan Jan Ki Hai Yahi Pukar, Maya Behen Ji Abki Baar’ (This is the call of the people, this time it will be Maya Behen).
The unique thing about the online campaigns is that BSP workers and its chief became active on social media not so long ago but managed to create a huge following. For many years, the BSP chief was not very active on social media and she joined Twitter only in October 2018.
As of now, this young brigade is connecting people at a fast pace through Twitter, Facebook and WhatsApp and the target audience not only includes young BSP workers but also the student community preparing for competitive examinations, writers, teachers and journalists. Some of these youth have lakhs of followers on social media platforms as well.
Manorama Sumit Anand is not a member of the BSP but has been spreading the ideology of the party through the social media platform across the country. A resident of Mathura, Manorama has 84,000 followers on Twitter.
Similarly, a teacher by profession Shilpa Ambedkar has 84,000 followers while Hina Gautam is followed by 38,000 people on social media. Also, author from Jalaun, Mahi Ambedkar has 81,000 followers on Twitter. Lucknow’s Amita Ambedkar is not much on Twitter but has millions of followers on Facebook. There are hundreds of such youngsters with mammoth following and who are continuously working for the BSP.
Apart from this, numerous youngsters are also engaged in strengthening BSP through YouTube channels and websites. YouTube channels like Ambedkarite People’s Voice, BHIM TV, and The Think have millions of subscribers. Websites like bahujanbolega.com, bahujansanghtan.in also have a good readership.
This can be termed as a paradigm shift for the BSP in the current scenario as the outfit believed and drew strength from its support base through meetings and cadre conventions. It seems the party has started moving in the right direction using social media platforms which have emerged as a not-so-expensive yet powerful tools of communication. Besides the effort which aims at sprucing the BSP image comes at a very opportune time with the Assembly elections in the state barely six months away. As the youth brigade takes up the yoke of social media promotion of the outfit, the BSP brass will have to beef up the organisation and maintain the momentum in the run-up to the 2022 Assembly polls.