BENGALURU: A perceptible Dalit consolidation appears to be happening in Karnataka, which could give the Congress an edge in the Lok Sabha elections. Co-chairman of the Congress Campaign Committee former Rajya Sabha MP and Dalit leader L Hanumanthaiah said this consolidation could work in favour of the Congress in the five reserved seats of Gulbarga, Bijapur, Chitradurga, Kolar and Chamarajanagar, and two Scheduled Tribe seats of Raichur and Ballari.
The Dalit vote is not a homogenous monolith chunk, but is divided into the Dalit Left and Right castes, which are further sub-divided into more than a hundred castes. There are about 3.5 to 4 lakh votes in each parliamentary constituency.
Explaining the importance of the Dalit vote, Hanumanthaiah said for starters, the Madigas, which are a Dalit caste group, make up between 30,000 and 40,000 voters in more than 100 assembly constituencies.
There have been hurdles, though, for the Dalit unity move, with the recent standoff in Kolar, where Dalit leader KH Muniyappa battled former MLA Ramesh Kumar, a Brahmin. A supporter of Muniyappa, preferring to remain anonymous, said, “They need to hold a unity meeting to ensure all work together for the party. Can’t they solve a small problem like this? Muniyappa, a party loyalist, has been badly let down, and this could have an effect on the Dalit community.’’ When contacted, Muniyappa said he prefers not to respond to this.
Asked about the Dalit vote consolidation, former MP H Hanumanthappa disagreed. “I don’t see a Dalit consolidation happening. The Dalit vote used to be a solid single vote once upon a time but now it is badly divided on communal and caste lines, and also on sub-caste lines,” he said, and referred to the issue in Chitradurga, where there is a standoff between two Dalit BJP leaders.
Said political analyst BS Murthy, “Traditionally, the Dalit Right would vote Congress, and Dalit Left would vote for BJP. Most Dalits are Ambedkarites and adhere to the Ambedkarite thought process. This time, the major chunk of the Dalit vote is expected to go to the Congress. One of the tallest Dalit leaders, Srinivas Prasad, joining the Congress will give it a big boost.’’