LUCKNOW: Having gained the confidence after winning the battle of his pride against the age old dominance of upper castes and orthodox social order, Sanjay Jatav of Kasganj, shot to fame as the 'Dalit Dulha' (dalit groom). Now, he is ready to try his hand at electoral politics. He is contemplating fighting the 2019 Lok Sabha polls from the reserved Hathras seat or as a general candidate from the Etawah parliamentary constituency.
However, it will be interesting to watch if he is fielded by a political party or fulfils his political ambitions on his own.
Having emerged as a nonconformist, a role model for young dalits, the 'Dulha' (groom) of Kasganj is being eyed by political parties, especially Congress, to connect with the community in general.
Despite being a BSP member, Sanjay has been mentioned in the 'development of new dalit leadrship' section of Congress's official circular related to its special campaign — Samvidhan to Swabhiman abhiyan — launched on November 12 to connect with Dalits.
According to highly placed sources in the Congress, the particular section of the circular which talks about Congress's plans to connect with Dalits, enunciates directives for party workers to get associated with people like Sanjay Jatav of Kasganj.
"The circular directs party leaders to identify more such people like Kasganj's Sanjay Jatav, who has emerged as a new icon for Dalits," the source said.
Likely to be left out of the prospective SP-BSP-RLD alliance, Congress has gone back to the drawing board to chalk out an independent roadmap for the 2019 battle. Dalit outreach is an essential part of the party's strategy.
In its quest to woo the Dalits, who constitute a big chunk — around 21 per cent — of the total population of Uttar Pradesh, the Congress has initiated a process to identify new icons to convince the section about the genuineness of its intentions.
In this regard, the party is planning to project Kasganj groom Sanjay Jatav as a modern Dalit icon. He had challenged the might of dominant Thakurs in his village Nizampur in Kasganj district.
After a psychological battle of three months and armed with a favourable High Court order, Sanjay took out his wedding procession as per his wish passing through the locality of upper caste thakurs, riding a horse. His barat was accompanied by a heavy security cordon provided by the district police administration on July 15, 2018. Earlier, only Thakurs had the right to ride a horse in the village.
After standing up to challenge the age old traditions and defying an orthodox social order, Sanjay shot to fame and turned a celebrity in no time.
According to sources, Jatav has taken Congress's 'gesture' as good news. At present, he is a bit peeved over the attitude of the leaders of his parent party — BSP, as the party did not help him in getting his 'barat' issue settled.