Delhi Confidential: SP’s Dalit outreach on Kanshi Ram’s death anniversary; Bomb scare delays Mamata’s Delhi flight

Welcome to Delhi Confidential, your inside track to the power corridors of the capital. Today: From Samajwadi Party MP Dharmendra Yadav heading to BSP stronghold Ambedkar Nagar to TMC chief Mamata Banerjee missing an INDIA bloc protest due to a flight delay in Kolkata.

1. 01

   PDA Outreach

   With a keen eye on the Dalit vote under the PDA banner, Samajwadi Party senior leader and MP Dharmendra Yadav is scheduled to address a programme in UP’s Ambedkar Nagar district on the occasion of the death anniversary of Kanshi Ram, the founder of the BSP, on Friday. The selection of Ambedkar Nagar is crucial for the SP as the district has a high concentration of Dalits and was carved by the Mayawati-led BSP government in 1995. The programme is part of the SP’s wider outreach towards Dalits amid the BSP’s decline in the state.

2. 02

   Flight hits Fight

   TMC chief and former chief minister of West Bengal Mamata Banerjee had to drop the plan to join the protest by INDIA bloc leaders and MPs at Rajghat on Thursday. Mamata, who was flying from Kolkata to Delhi, had to wait for a while at the Kolkata airport because of a bomb scare, said sources. Though she reached the Capital, her flight landed too late for her to reach Rajghat for the protest. Mamata is scheduled to visit Rashtrapati Bhavan on Friday to meet President Droupadi Murmu and demand the removal of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar. There is no clarity on whether she will attend the protest called by the Cockroach Janta Party on Saturday in Delhi, where student wings of the Left parties will also be in attendance.