BJP cancels Shah's visit to Agra rally

NEW DELHI: BJP chief Amit Shah has called off a major Dalit outreach programme the party had planned for him at Agra on Sunday, citing "bad weather". But sources said the project's organisers had been pressured by Dalits not to team up closely with the BJP in the wake of a party leader abusing Mayawati. However, BJP national general secretary Arun Singh and state president Keshav Prasad Maurya will attend the rally and also address a meeting at city's Saraswati Shishu Mandir school. The foul mouth of Dayashankar Singh, the expelled BJP politician who has been arrested in Bihar, has cast a shadow on Shah's drive to woo Dalits in Uttar Pradesh and spirit them away from the Bahujan Samaj Party before the Assembly polls next year. Similar outreach events the party had organised to seek Dalit support in Aligarh and Hathras, both close to Agra, were stalled by BSP protesters who warned some Buddhist monks supporting the two programmes to stay away from the "anti-Dalit" BJP. The BJP had used the Buddhist clergy and the Dhamma Chetna Yatra (journey to awaken spiritual consciousness), peregrinating through Uttar Pradesh since April this year, as a vehicle to connect with the Dalits, sections of whom had converted to Buddhism in the western districts. Overseen by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the Prime Minister's Office, the yatra was led by a monk, Dhamma Viriyo, who had been associated with Ram Vilas Paswan and Lalu Prasad in the past and had since moved to the BJP. He is the head of the Bharatiya Bhikhu Mahasangha and had shared the dais with Modi in April this year when the Prime Minister launched the Ambedkar Mahakumbh from Mhow, Bhimrao Ambedkar's birthplace. Modi is slated to address the last leg of the yatra in Lucknow this October. Shah's proposed appearance in Agra - his first as part of the Buddhist yatra - had been billed as a major event in the BJP's Uttar Pradesh calendar. General secretary Arun Singh, who is coordinating the yatra's course from the central headquarters, told The Telegraph: "The ground on which the programme was to be held is waterlogged. We expected a 60,000 turnout. Obviously, we cannot expect people to sit or stand in the slush." The venue was the Kotha Meena Bazar ground where political rallies are usually held. "The contractor who was to make the arrangements cried off, saying it was impossible to pitch the tent," Ram Pratap Singh, the Uttar Pradesh BJP secretary, said from Agra. A smaller meeting will be held on Sunday at Agra's Saraswati Vidya Mandir school. It will be addressed by general secretary Singh and Uttar Pradesh BJP president Keshav Prasad Maurya. Shah was ruled out because a "hall meeting will not befit someone of his stature", said a source. Sources in the Bhikhu Mahasangha said they were "afraid" of being "identified" with the BJP after Dhamma Viriyo's yatra was allegedly attacked in western Uttar Pradesh and the monks booed. "The social pressure on us is enormous. It's not just the BSP, even the larger Dalit community does not want us to be seen in the BJP's company," a source said. "Dalits refuse to tolerate any criticism of Mayawati, let alone abuse." Although Shah had cracked the whip on Dayashankar, the BJP's ambivalence towards him after the Rajputs of Uttar Pradesh batted loudly for him apparently reinforced the suspicion among Dalits that, ultimately, the party's "heart" was with the upper castes. -The Telegraph Calcutta