MUTUAL BENEFIT: Advani (with Mayawati and Kanshi Ram) saw the Lucknow rally as an opportunity to make a socio-political statement

As Deputy Prime Minister L.K. Advani addressed a mammoth rally organised by the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) at Ambedkar Sthal in Lucknow last week, the fervent cries of "Baba L.K. Advani zindabad" by the Dalits who had converged there in lakhs were heartening. Putting to rest doubts over the propriety of a senior BJP leader and Union home minister accepting the BSP's invitation to join a state-level "dhikkar" (shame) rally, the response of the Dalits proved that Advani's decision to attend against all advice had paid off.

Describing it as a "political experiment" at the Executive Committee meeting of the state BJP in Lucknow earlier in the day, Advani had much convincing to do before other senior leaders in the party could see the merit of his decision. By taking part in the BSP rally, he argued, the BJP would not be attempting a calculated gamble for the first time. In 1967, when the communists and the socialists sought an alliance with the Jan Sangh, the party was initially apprehensive but it eventually shared a political platform, even formed a government, with them. The same was the case when Jayaprakash Narayan had extended his hand.

This time round too, the BJP had more to gain than lose. For years now, the party has been desperately trying to work on its vision of a "Vrihad Hindu Samaj" and give up its perceived upper-caste leanings. In the late 1980s and early 1990s, Advani-who introduced the concept of social engineering in the party-expanded its support base among the Other Backward Classes (OBCs) by projecting Kalyan Singh, a Lodh, as the new face of the party. The BJP soon made inroads into the OBC constituency and enhanced its strength in terms of MLAs and MPs.

HERO WORSHIP: By invoking Ambedkar's name in his speech, Advani won over the Dalits

A deal seems to have been struck to ensure the BSP holds sway in the state and the BJP at the Centre.

But the subsequent fallout with Kalyan Singh spoiled matters. The fact that the BJP's organisational structure was still dominated by the upper castes served as a stumbling block in its efforts to shed the elitist image. Concerted attempts to woo the Dalits with a series of socio-political programmes failed precisely on this count. There was hardly any credible Dalit leadership to speak of in the party. As Advani saw it, the "dhikkar" rally offered the BJP a much-needed opportunity to break the ice.

That he could succeed in doing so was evident from the thumping applause he received at the outset itself. "If India holds its head high at the international level, it is because of Indian democracy," he said in his opening remarks. "Democracy is there because of the Indian Constitution and the Indian Constitution means Baba Saheb Ambedkar who was a great visionary."

While the positive reaction of the Dalits marked a significant departure for the BJP, Mayawati on her part ensured that the visit was historic in other ways too. She ordered the state machinery to accord an unprecedented welcome to Advani. The entire city was spruced up with banners, hoardings and cut-outs capturing the spirit of the occasion. Much of the work was personally supervised by Mayawati and BSP leader Kanshi Ram.

The chief minister arranged a special visit for Advani to the Ambedkar Memorial, her dream project, where the deputy prime minister spent 45 minutes. She also hosted a "traditional vegetarian thali bhojan" for him at her residence. Significantly, none of the BSP ministers was invited for lunch. Those present included BJP bigwigs like state party President Vinay Katiyar and senior ministers Om Prakash Singh, Hukum Singh, Ram Prakash Tripathi and Lalji Tandon, besides Governor Vishnukant Shastri.

That the BSP was going all out to please the BJP leadership was not without reason. It was in keeping with the recent efforts of the party to sink its differences with its coalition partner. If a senior BJP functionary is to be believed, it was the result of a deal struck between the two parties under which they would ensure that the BSP would hold sway over Uttar Pradesh while the BJP would benefit from the Lok Sabha elections in the state. "The BSP knows the BJP is the best partner for any political party," says Hridayanath Dixit, BJP vice-president. "The way Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee has gone along with the regional forces in his NDA Government, there is little doubt that the BJP is a trusted friend."

The growing proximity of the Samajwadi Party (SP) and the Congress is being cited as another reason. The Congress' determination to rule at the Centre after the next parliamentary elections and the SP's anxiousness to dislodge the Mayawati regime in the state could bring the two parties close and pose a serious threat to the BSP.

Not surprisingly, therefore, a good part of the rally was aimed at belittling SP chief Mulayam Singh Yadav. Among other things, his reported observation that the Ambedkar Memorial was a "den" came in for much criticism. "I have read in the newspapers that Mulayam Singh Yadav has fled the country for 10-12 days," Kanshi Ram made it a point to say. "After this massive rally, he may not ever want to come back." Mayawati went a step further with remarks that Mulayam and his son Akhilesh would have "remained shepherds but for the Constitution given by Ambedkar".

Such personal attacks apart, Mayawati also sought to allay apprehensions expressed by Muslim supporters in her party about the new-found bonhomie with the BJP. "Why is it that the BJP becomes a communal party when it joins hands with us?" she asked. "Why was it not communal when Mulayam became chief minister with its support in 1989?" In an obvious attempt to clear doubts that the presence of Advani at the rally could antagonise Muslims, she described as baseless any conclusion that her Government's decision not to issue a fresh notification on the Ayodhya issue meant the cases against the accused would be dropped.

While that remains a subject of debate, the political expediency of Mayawati's attempts to cosy up to the BJP was becoming clearer. For the chief minister, the possibility of losing power and seeing the BSP break up as in 1995 or 1997 was too much to take. The best bet under the circumstances, therefore, was to join forces with the BJP and consolidate her position in the state while helping the BJP at the Centre.

While the BJP hopes to gain from the BSP's Dalit vote-banks, the BSP plans to cash in on that party's upper-caste support. For some time now, Mayawati has been showing a willingness to be accommodative to the upper castes. The misuse of the Dalit Act which had turned the upper castes against her during her previous reigns seems to be a non-issue now. The chief minister has made it clear that the state machinery would apply the provisions of the Act only in exceptional cases. She has also urged the masses to avoid using the Act and register cases with discretion. This is being seen as a major step towards reducing tensions between the caste Hindus and Scheduled Castes in the state.

If Mayawati continues along this line and the relationship between the BSP and the BJP is cemented, the calculation is that they would emerge as a formidable alliance with the assured support of about 22 per cent Dalits and 27 per cent upper castes. The alliance, it is surmised, would be strong enough to take on the OBC-Muslim combine of Mulayam, Kalyan Singh and Sonelal Patel of Apna Dal. Little wonder then that Advani referred to the huge turnout at the "dhikkar" rally as a "movement". A movement to create an upper caste-lower caste combine which, it is hoped, will be a force to reckon with-both in the state and at the Centre.