Since the summer of 1995, the Samajwadi Party and Bahujan Samaj Party have been sworn enemies.
The BSP, in the past, has stayed away from all functions and political events that had the presence of the Samajwadis.
The BSP never attended the all party meetings convened by the SP while it was in power and BSP MLAs were strictly instructed not to approach the SP government for any work— not even ones related to their constituencies.
However, equations seem to have changed drastically this time, even fuelling speculations of a secret deal between the two parties. Throwing all past convention to the winds, state SP leaders have met chief minister Akhilesh Yadav twice at his residence during the past four days.
On Thursday, when Ms Mayawati’s statue was vandalised, the three state BSP leaders — Swami Prasad Maurya, Naseemuddin Siddiqui and Ram Achal Rajbhar — first went to the governor to demand the dismissal of the SP government and then drove straight to the chief minister’s residence to seek security for statues.
On Monday, once again, the BSP leaders went over to meet the chief minister at his residence.
When questioned about the purpose of their visit to the chief minister’s residence after demanding his dismissal, Mr Maurya said, “He is the chief minister and it is our duty to meet him.” He remained non-committal when asked why the BSP had not performed this duty in the past 17 years.
If party sources are to be believed, the Bahujan Samaj Party is now keen to mend fences with the Samajwadis so that they can earn immunity against inquiries into corruption charges.