LUCKNOW: A well-crafted caste calculus was one of the main reasons for the BJP’s huge successes in the 2014 and 2017 elections. The outreach plotted by its ‘Chanakya’, party chief Amit Shah, ensured that Dalits — especially the non-Jatav SCs, non-Yadav OBCs and most backward castes — voted for it in droves.Shah had succeeded in taking scattered MBCs and their respective caste parties on board the saffron bandwagon as respected allies. This created a grand alliance of castes. Communal polarisation only worked as a force multiplier.
Shah put together a palette of 40 MBCs — such as Gaur, Luhar, Kumhar, Bind, Mallah, Pal, Rajbhar, Chauhan etc — who were small in number but created a huge vote bank when united. These were castes ignored by earlier Samajwadi Party and Bahujan Samaj Party regimes. Shah gave these caste leaders major roles and made them feel important.The BJP also allied with Suheldev Bhartiya Samaj Party (SBSP) under Om Prakash Rajbhar’s leadership. Shah participated in events organised in memory of caste leader, Raja Suheldev, and started a train in his name.
The results in the 2017 state elections were beyond expectation – the BJP won 312 seats, the Kurmi-dominated Apna Dal 9, and the SBSP 4.But with the battle of 2019 round the corner, the BJP has discovered that the glue that attracted the Dalits is missing. While SBSP chief Rajbhar is sulking, the BJP’s Dalit MPs —Sadhvi Savitri Bai Phule from Bahraich, Chhotelal Khairwar from Robertsganj, Udit Raj from Delhi and Ashok Dohre from Etawah — have been protesting the alleged discrimination against the community. This has added to the BJP’s headache after the Gorakhpur and Phulpur drubbing.
The party is also struggling to retain its grip on the Dalit and backward votebank, which the SP-BSP alliance is ready to encroach upon.Caste conflicts between Thakurs and Dalits in west UP have made the situation trickier. The arrest of Dalit faces like Chandrashekhar of the Bhim Army after the Saharanpur conflagration is being projected as caste discrimination.
The action taken against those who violently protested the alleged dilution of the SC/ST Act is also being attributed to the anti-Dalit mindset of the BJP regime.So, will the BJP’s Chanakya come out with a plan to keep the party’s caste bouquet intact? While the saffron ranks are in a huddle to thrash out a strategy to counter the anti-Dalit tag, UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has announced that he will consider a separate quota for Maha-Dalits and Most Backward Castes.
The BJP has also sent leaders like Kanta Kardam, OBCs Sakaldeep Rajbhar, Viajay Pal Singh Tomar and Harinaam Yadav to the Rajya Sabha. The upcoming polls to 13 Council seats may see some of BJP’s Dalit and OBC faces in the fray. Additionally, leaders from these sections could be given positions in 92 commissions, federations and state committees.Highly placed BJP sources said senior Dalit and OBC leaders were also being identified for a major role in the 2019 elections.
Dalit ire may dent BJP’s prospects
BJP drew flak after its ally SBSP claimed that Dalits in UP are being neglected in the present regime
BJP MP from Bahraich Savitri Bai Phule spoke against her own party’s stand on Dalit issues
Arrest of Dalit leaders during protests against dilution of SC/ST Act and Saharanpur conflagration