Controversial poster stirs political storm in UP

A political storm has erupted in Uttar Pradesh over a controversial poster put up outside the Samajwadi Party office in Lucknow that features half-and-half faces of party chief Akhilesh Yadav and BR Ambedkar.

BSP chief Mayawati took veiled potshots at Yadav while the BJP was staging sit-ins and protests against the poster.

The SP has since dissociated itself from the poster, but the controversy has refused to die down, with rival parties demanding an apology from Yadav.

"We won't relent until the SP chief tenders an apology," said BJP cadres who staged a sit-in at the Ambedkar statue at Lucknow's Hazratganj. Similar protests by the BJP were seen in other parts of the state.

The SP hit back at its rivals and suggested that the poster could be the work of the BJP.

When asked about the poster, SP chief spokesperson Rajendra Chowdhary told PTI, "This is not the official poster of the Samajwadi Party... We are not aware of who has put this up. Anyone can put up a poster anywhere. Maybe it's the work of BJP men." "The Samajwadi Party is fighting to save the Constitution of Dr. B. R. Ambedkar and getting a tremendous response from the people," he added.

The SP leadership, buoyed by the party's impressive showing in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls in UP, has been trying to woo the Dalits, once considered loyal to the BSP, and competing with the BJP for support of the OBCs, considered the mainstays of BJP's phenomenal wins in UP since the 2014 Lok Sabha polls.

In the 2024 Lok Sabha polls, the SP, in alliance with Congress, managed to check the BJP's growing dominance in the state and dealt an embarrassing blow when the SP's Dalit leader Awadhesh Prasad defeated his BJP rival from the Faizabad Lok Sabha seat. The constituency is part of Ayodhya, where only a few months back the Ram temple was built under BJP governments in the state and center.

The BJP regained some of its lost momentum when it won the subsequent by-polls in SP bastions of Kundarki, a Muslim-dominated seat, and Katehari, a seat with sizable OBC, Dalit, and minority voters. Yet, the SP has continued to pursue more support from these groups and has opened its doors to many Dalit and OBC leaders who were previously with BSP.

Mayawati on Wednesday named the SP and Congress in a social media post, asking them to refrain from "insulting" Ambedkar, or her party, BSP, would be forced to take to the streets in protest.

On April 12, barely two days before Ambedkar's birth anniversary (April 14), SP chief Yadav unveiled a statue of Ambedkar in Etawah, praising the Dalit icon widely regarded as the architect of the Indian Constitution.

This was a line of attack used by the SP and its ally Congress, which have accused the BJP of attempting to change the Constitution.

The poster controversy has now given the BJP some ammunition to hit back at the SP, the main opposition party in the UP, and its attempts to pitch itself as a party for Dalits.

Asim Arun, the state's Minister for Social Welfare and SC/ST Welfare, described the 'half Ambedkar, half Akhilesh' poster as a "grave insult to Ambedkar". He claimed that the SP has a history of undermining Dalits and backward communities.

"Akhilesh Yadav scrapped many Dalit welfare schemes during his tenure as CM," he claimed.

UP MLC Lalji Prasad Nirmal went further, alleging that Yadav was "anti-Dalit," pointing to the SP government's past decision to ban reservations in promotions for Dalit employees.

Rajya Sabha MP Brij Lal also lashed out, saying, "Akhilesh is not even worthy of being the dust beneath Babasaheb's feet. The people will not forgive this insult." The political exchanges over the Constitution and now the poster are linked to claiming the legacy of Ambedkar, whose image continues to be a potent symbol in Uttar Pradesh's caste-driven political landscape.