New Delhi, Aug.18 (ANI): Rajaram, a Benaras Hindu university graduate of Uttar Pradesh, is likely to be the heir apparent of Mayawati's Bahujan Samaj Party, says a popular tabloid.
ccording to Current, which has been revived after a decade, this month's lead story has revealed that Rajaram is the person Mayawati has referred to. Mayawati had recently dropped enough hints during a political rally recently that she had chosen her heir apparent but would reveal his name in due course.
"I have chosen my successor but I won't disclose the name. The person is 18 years younger to me and is a Dalit. The name will be disclosed only when I am dead. Apart from me only two other people know the name," she said.
Addressing the rally Mayawati announced that her chosen successor and the next leader of the BSP was not from her own or from Kanshi Ram's family. But to be sure he was from the 'Chamar' community and that he was 18 to20 years younger than her.
Many eyebrows were raised across the nation as she had introduced her brother Anand Kumar at a rally in October 2007.
This had led to rumours that he would become her successor in the party. Obviously Mayawati had other ideas. But in her over an hour-long speech, Mayawati made it clear that her successor would not be from her family. Though she refused to divulge Heir apparent of the Dalit legacy: Rajaram the name of her heir to the hundreds of thousands of her foot soldiers the better informed in the party already had an idea of the person is.
Whispers, rumours, gossip, and wild guesses about the identity of the person that we know now to be Rajaram dominated political and non-political circles everywhere. But not in her own party's high command.
This is for the simple reason that quite a few of her advisors and confidants had a fairly clear idea that Rajaram was being groomed to take on the mantle as the Yuvraj of India's largest Dalit party. It had been quite apparent to those in the know that Rajaram enjoyed Mayawati's patronage, the tabloid states.
Sources close to Behenji say that this young man from Azamgarh had been the blue-eyed boy of the late Kanshi Ram and because of his strong recommendation, Mayawati had started grooming him as a future leader.
The tabloid states that Rajaram's first contact with the BSP leadership came when he was a student at the Banaras Hindu University. He had an association with Dr. Baliram the then BSP Member of Parliament from Azamgarh that went back to his district. Dr. Baliram was impressed with the young, energetic and committed student leader from the Dalit community and took him to meet Kanshi Ram. The late BSP leader was a keen observer and judge of people.
After testing his abilities and evaluating his potential, a satisfied Kanshi Ram asked Rajaram to join the party and work with the organization.
Rajaram proved to be smart, diligent and hard working as a secretary in the BSP's Delhi unit. He kept a very low profile and proved his caliber through his organizational skills and focused approach. In a short time Rajaram had created a space for himself in the party.
When Mayawati took over the reins of the party after the demise of Kanshi Ram, she shunted out many of the older organisation leaders appointed and promoted by Kanshi Ram. But Rajaram impressed her too. She realised that Kanshi Ram was not wrong when he promoted him in the party saying, "this Boy is the brightest of all the new comers." And when she took the oath of Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh for the third time, she appointed him as her PRO.
According to a government officer, a close confidant of Mayawati's, Rajaram won everybody's heart and respect by keeping a low profile but producing high results. Even after becoming nominated by Mayawati to the Legislative council of Uttar Pradesh he maintained his low profile. Many people in the know say that it was because of this quality that Mayawati decided to groom him as the deserving candidate to lead the party in the future.
She discussed his capabilities and her plans with three or four senior leaders of the party and though she had asked them to keep silent, the word, as it does in every political party, spread silently.
Since Mayawati became the Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh last year, Rajaram's anytime access to the corridors of power is evidence of his position in the hierarchy. She had appointed him the vice-president of the party, the post she held under Kanshi Ram.
Senior government officials never deny his requests or ignore his suggestions. Over the past year, almost all the second rung BSP leaders have recognised Rajaram as the Black Horse in the leadership race. By Sandeep Datta (ANI)
|
|
Read More: Azamgarh
Comments:
