Bhim Army chief Chandrashekhar Azad entered the political fray on Sunday with the launch of his new party. He announced that his party, the Azad Samaj Party, would be the "voice of the Dalits, backward classes and the poor".
Addressing the gathering, Azad said: "It is a historic day as today is the birth anniversary of Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) founder Kanshi Ram. This will be a memorable day and I promise that our flag will fly high in Delhi.“ Chandrashekar Azad had chosen deep blue as the colour of the party, a symbolic colour often used by Ambedkarites.
Swaran Kaur, sister of Kanshi Ram, the founder of Bahujan Samaj Party in Uttar Pradesh, was present at the gathering, and gave her blessing to Chandrashekar Azad.
"This is not a party, this is a movement. It will become the voice of Dalits, backward classes and the poor. We will raise their voice as questions are being raised on our citizenship. Preparations are being made to enslave us. We will take our fight out to the streets,” he said.
Azad asserted that they will create a strong party that no one would be able to 'buy them'. "We won't let the country down," he proclaimed.
At the launch function in Noida, Azad took an oath on the Constitution.
A large number of Bhim Army supporters and workers were present during the announcement.
Sources told news agency IANS that 28 ex-MLAs and six former MPs also attended the event and took the oath. However, this was not officially confirmed.
He also said the fight against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) and the National Register of Citizens (NRC) will intensify now that the party had been announced. He added that the party would not allow the implementation of NRC in the country.
Targeting Prime Minister Narendra Modi, he said this (BJP) government belongs to the capitalists in the country, and that the "people sitting in NITI Aayog are harassing the people".
Azad said that he had the blessings of the mothers of the country. "Mothers of Rohith Vemula and Junaid have also sent their blessings and said ‘don't cheat us’. I would like to say that Chandrashekhar Azad will die before cheating," he said.
A total of 94 people from various political parties, including the BSP, joined the ASP on Sunday.
The new party is expected to give BSP a run for its money. BSP, headed by Mayawati in Uttar Pradesh, won only 19 out of the 430 seats it contested in the Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections in 2017.
(With inputs from IANS)