UP cancels holiday on Kanshiram anniversary, draws flak from BSP

The Uttar Pradesh government Saturday cancelled the state holiday on Bahujan Samaj Party founder Kanshiram's death anniversary on October 9, drawing criticism from the party, which is gearing up to hold a public rally on the same day.

Kanshiram, who was born on March 15, 1934 and died in 2006, founded the BSP in 1984. The party, after assuming power in 2007, had notified October 9 as a holiday under the Negotiable Instrument Act. Kanshiram's birthday was also declared a holiday, but not under the Act.

"We have received a government order cancelling the government holiday on October 9 on Kanshiram's death anniversary," District Magistrate, Lucknow, Anurag Yadav said. "But there is no mention of cancellation of holiday on Kanshiram's birth anniversary," he said.

The BSP's rally on October 9 is much-awaited as party chief Mayawati had announced that she would declare her future political strategy about support to the UPA government during it. The holiday cancellation has given more fodder to Mayawati for training her guns on SP. BSP had earlier blamed the SP government, calling it anti-Dalit after several schemes named after Kanshiram and other Dalit icons were scrapped by the SP government. It has now criticised the state government for cancelling the government holiday on the BSP founder's death anniversary, terming the decision too as anti-Dalit. Reacting to the state government's decision, Leader of Opposition in the Assembly and BSP general secretary Swami Prasad Maurya said that the move shows the SP government's "anti-Dalit mentality".

He said if the SP government could not give any respect to the great men, it should also avoid "snatching" honours given to them by previous government. The government instead of focusing on deteriorating law and order situation has been constantly taking the decisions to "play" with the honour accorded to great men by the previous BSP government led by Mayawati, Maurya said.

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