Mayawati reserves 50 percent of party posts for youth

Lucknow, Feb 16: Inspired by the results that young leaders are coming up with in other political parties, BSP chief Mayawati announced that from now on the youth would account for 50 percent of posts in the party organisation.

Having faced a string of electoral reverses in recent months, the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) would focus on Uttar Pradesh once again, party leaders said on Monday.

The decision to this effect was taken by the party chief at a high-level meeting of leaders and workers in the state capital Sunday.

Mayawati also stressed on the need to connect with the party cadres at village and district levels, a leader present at the meeting told IANS.

Marginalised at the national level and also on verge of losing the national party status, Mayawati told leaders of the party that with the state polls just two years away, they should work to reach out to the cadres, consolidate supporters and win back the Dalits, who have since crossed over to other parties.

She also directed senior leaders to up their attack on the Akhilesh Yadav-led Samajwadi Party government in the state by informing the cadres about the failures of the ruling party.

Sources say, Mayawati was particularly worried about the poaching of her loyal Dalit vote bank and its crossover to the BJP.

"Behen ji has asked us to fan out in the state and inform people of the false promises made by Prime Minister Narendra Modi during the Lok Sabha polls as well as the anti-Dalit, anti-people policies of the state government," a state functionary said.

IANS