Vadodara, September 11: It is official now. BJP rebel leader Nalin Bhatt, along with his supporters, will formally join Mayawati’s BSP on Ganesh Chaturthi day on Saturday.

BSP supremo and Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati will be camping for two nights in Vadodara to address Satta Prapt Karo rally.

Like R P Singh, the BSP state in-charge, who had hit out at the Congress, Bhatt also flayed the party for having ‘’failed to play an effective opposition in Gujarat’’. “Mayawati is a Swadeshi Mahila, sangharsh Videshi Mahila sathe pan chhe,’’ said Bhatt, while announcing that he and his supporters will join the BSP on Saturday. Singh was present at the news conference, where Bhatt made the announcement.

In 1998, the BSP fought from seven constituencies, and in 2002 it fought from 34 and got a voters’ share of less than 1 %.

But the poll results in Uttar Pradesh emboldened both Singh and Bhatt to discount Gujarat’s traditional apathy towards a Third Front. “Modi will meet the same fate as Chandrababu Naidu, the BSP is the only party to deliver on what it promises uniting the upper castes and Dalits,’’ gushed Bhatt.

Mayawati will address the rally at Vadodara’s Polo Ground on September 16. Before that, she will address a press meet on September 15.

Singh said that Vadodara was chosen for the historical association of B R Ambedkar with the city_ Maharaja Sayajirao Gaekwad III had invited him. “The list of all party officials and also new entrants will be formally announced when Mayawatiji arrivies,’’ said Singh.

With BSP Brahmin face Satish Chandra Mishra having camped in Gujarat quite frequently, it appears that the BSP’s Satta Prapt Karo campaign is to focus on the upper castes like Bhatts and Brahmin meets, besides the party making inroads in Dalit pockets and tribals belts.