India, Sept. 23 -- When the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) debuted in Parliament 37 years ago at the height of the Mandal churn, it was the culmination of years of effort by founder Kanshi Ram, his protege Mayawati, and a dedicated cadre of workers committed to Dr BR Ambedkar's ideals. First by organising within the bureaucracy and then by painstakingly cycling from village to village to stitch together a constituency, Ram built a base of voters largely ignored by national parties and languishing at the bottom of the socioeconomic pyramid. A share in power held the potential to transform ordinary people's lives - the ability to walk into a hospital without a slur being hurled, a police officer taking a complaint seriously, or a child not dropp...