The importance of Dalit votes in Haryana

The Congress garnered 68% of Dalit votes in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, whereas the BJP managed to get 24%.
Congress supporters during the party’s Haryana Vijay Sankalp Jansabha.
Congress supporters during the party’s Haryana Vijay Sankalp Jansabha.Photo | PTI
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NEW DELHI: With campaigning for the Haryana assembly polls coming to an end on Thursday, all eyes are on the Dalit votes, which comprise 20% of the state’s population. With new alliances such as BSP-INLD and JJP-Azad Samaj Party testing the waters, the caste dynamics have changed the political landscape, say observers.

While the main contenders, the Congress and the ruling BJP, are going all-out to woo the Dalit communities, the grand old party is harping on the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, where the Dalit voters have shown a favorable shift towards it.

The Congress garnered 68% of Dalit votes in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, whereas the BJP managed to get 24%. The results were a huge setback for the BJP, as it obtained 51% of Dalit votes in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections while the Congress had only 25%.

Congress supporters during the party’s Haryana Vijay Sankalp Jansabha.
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The Lok Sabha results showed a significant change in the mood among the community, said Surinder S Jodhka from Jawaharlal Nehru University. “It showed people’s dissatisfaction with BJP. The Opposition could build an effective narrative against the BJP—whether the attack on the Constitution, farm laws and others,” said Jodhka, who authored ‘Caste in Contemporary India’.

While the BSP-INLD alliance and the tie-up between the Jannayak Janta Party (JJP) and the Aazad Samaj Party are in the fray, Jodhka said that it is unlikely that any of the Dalit parties winning any seats.

“Cast is a relevant variable, but first of all, Dalit is not a sociological category. As such, there is no Dalit identity politics in Haryana. Most of the Dalit politics evolved out of some kind of a conflict scenario. And that conflict scenario is always with the locally dominant caste,” said Jodhka, pointing out that Chamars and Valmikis make up a significant percentage of the SC population in the state.

Congress supporters during the party’s Haryana Vijay Sankalp Jansabha.
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The BJP is leaving no stone unturned to woo back the Dalits to its fold. In its manifesto, the party promised a full scholarship to OBC/SC students studying medicine and engineering at any government college in India. The Congress promise, on the other hand, includes conducting a caste survey and increasing the OBC creamy layer. The BJP is also hoping that the Kumari Selja factor will dent the prospects of Congress among the Dalit voters.

The Supreme Court’s recent verdict allowing states to classify SCs/STs has only exacerbated the division among the communities, says Ashok Bharti, chief of the National Confederation of Dalit Organisations.

Though the state government has implemented sub-classification much before the SC order, no quotas have been filled accordingly, said Bharti. “They are just trying to divide the Dalit community so that they can divert the attention from filling the quota or filling the backlog quota,” he said, pointing out that main political parties are silent on the issue.

Priyanka roots for Phogat

Congress general secretary Priya-nka Gandhi Vadra on Wednesday addressed a public meeting in Haryana’s Julana in support of party candidate and Olympic wrestler Vinesh Phogat. “Vinesh’s struggle was not of one person, it was for everyone,” she said.

Ram Rahim out on parole

Dera Sacha Sauda chief and rape convict Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh was on Wednesday granted a 20-day parole, though he has been barred from taking part in election-related activities, making speeches and staying in the state.

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