My relationship with the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) is a matter of legend.
Three decades back, I was standing at the gate of then BSP supremo Kanshiram’s bungalow at Humayun Road, New Delhi.
Kanshiram was then the icon of Dalit politics, having risen from scratch and was making waves in Indian politics, and I was an emerging TV reporter, member of the dream team of the iconic Aaj Tak, a 20-minute news bulletin on Doordarshan, but phenomenally popular.
As Kanshiram came out of the gate and tried to get into his very recognisable Contessa, I lunged forward with my mike and asked, “What happened in the meeting?” The deputy speaker of the Lok Sabha, Suraj Bhan, a Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader from Haryana, had visited him. Elections had recently concluded in Uttar Pradesh; the results had been declared, but no government had been formed because no party had a majority in the assembly.
The Assembly was placed in suspended animation. Many months had passed, and the BJP, through Suraj Bhan, was trying to stitch an alliance and explore the possibility of forming a government. I had the information and scoop. In those days, there were fewer TV reporters, and as I moved towards Humayun Road, two or three other reporters, including a few from newspapers, also parked themselves at the gate.
Kanshiram knew me well, but it was an awkward moment for him. It was a secret meeting. Nobody was supposed to know that he was hobnobbing with the BJP, whom he used to call the Manuvadi Party. Because of me, his secret was out.