Chandrashekhar Azad, Chief of Bhim Army, Drops 'Ravan' From His Name, Says 'I May Call Myself Chulbul Pandey'
Chandrashekhar Azad said political parties may take political advantage of moniker 'Ravan' to polarise voters between Ram supporters and Ravan supporters.
Lucknow, November 27: Bhim Army founder Chandrashekhar Azad, who is fondly called Ravan by his supporters, has dropped the alias Ravan from his name. Chandrashekhar Azad said political parties may take political advantage of moniker 'Ravan' to polarise voters between Ram supporters and Ravan supporters. The pro-Dalit activist said he may choose to be called Chulbul Pandey, a famous character played by Salman Khan in Dabangg movie.
“When I was released from prison, there was talk of only Ravan and I realised that I did not want political parties to take advantage of this name. Officially my name is Chandrashekhar Azad and tomorrow I may choose to call myself Chulbul Pandey. I don’t want any political party to ask people to choose between Ram and Ravan," Chandrashekhar Azad was quoted as saying.
The Bhim Army chief also announced his support for Mayawati's Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) and ruled out the possibility of him contesting elections. Notably, the BSP has so far kept a distance from Azad, with Mayawati calling him an agent of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). Chandrashekhar Meets Jamiat Chief Arshad Madani.
"Behenji is the tallest leader of the Bahujan samaj. I feel she has been misled by some people. We are running a social movement and will not be making a party so nobody needs to be scared of us. We will stand with her and try that there is a Bahujan samaj government this time," Azad said. He added that the Bhim Army members will travel across the country to mobilise support for the Bahujan samaj.
"I won’t tell them who to vote for but I will tell them who their friends are who are the enemy," Azad said. Calling the Congress anti-Dalit, Azad said if the grand old party claims to care for the welfare of Dalits, it will have to fight under the leadership of Mayawati. He also accused the BJP of tarnishing his image "in a bid to suppress the Bahujan movement.
(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Nov 27, 2018 01:43 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).