Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav today said he fears for jailed UP legislator Raghuraj Pratap Singh alias Raja Bhaiyya’s life.Similar was the ‘‘apprehension’’ of some of the MLAs, including those of the BJP, mainly Thakurs, who went to escort Singh from Banda jail on way to a Lucknow court in connection with one of the several cases slapped against him so far.‘‘I will not bow before Mayawati even if she slaps 10 POTA cases against me,’’ Singh had said during his personal appearance in an Allahabad court a few days earlier.Today, he also voiced the same fears as Mulayam. ‘‘Mayawati has hatched a conspiracy to kill me and police have been directed to protect the mafia don,’’ Singh told mediapersons today. He also dared Mayawati to order a CBI inquiry into the killing of the witness, Rajendra Yadav.These ‘‘apprehensions’’ apart, the fact remains that the jailed legislator, himself a Thakur, is fast emerging as a symbol of the tussle between Dalits and Thakurs. The BJP leaders were among the first to raise the issue of POTA being used to settle political vendetta. Understandably so, for the party has 28 Thakur MLAs and the state party leaders felt silence on the issue may cost them dearly. Thakurs form nearly 12 per cent of the total electorate in the state and the community has its presence ranging from five to 12 per cent in each Assembly segment.‘‘POTA will have to be withdrawn or else there will be sota (stick) on the issue,’’ said state BJP chief Vinay Katiyar recently.The state leaders have been snubbed by the party’s central leadership for creating an issue out of POTA.The developments only suit Mayawati. By taking action against Raja Bhaiyya, she hopes to build a Brahmin-Dalit axis, which used to be the Congress’ votebank. Most of the officers — down to the inspector’s rank — in the legislator’s home district are Brahmins. And the CM is out to prove to the electorate how a Dalit can effectively deal with upper castes, specially Thakurs, who are seen as the traditional tormentors of lower castes in the Hindi heartland.
