“Many became my brothers, but everyone except the Scheduled Castes betrayed and left me. He never did,” Mayawati said in an emotional tribute at Singh’s Lucknow home, noting that his death had come ahead of Raksha Bandhan, the festival that celebrates the bond between brothers and sisters. That, along with his accessibility, helped Singh survive the BSP’s political decline. The BSP leader was under the scanner this February following the Income-Tax Department’s raids at his home in Lucknow and in other districts. The BSP leader made his career in the civil construction business and was known for his cross-party connections and good ties with the bureaucracy.