BHOPAL: Humble boatman Kewat, played a pivotal role in Lord Ram’s life by ferrying him, Sita and Lakshman across the river Ganga during their exile. Centuries later, the successors of the same humble boatmen seemed to be getting wooed by the ruling BJP – which has long sworn by the cause of Lord Ram and Ramrajya – for success in the politically crucial Uttar Pradesh, which is just eight months away from the big-ticket assembly polls on 403 seats.
While the saffron party has fielded the MP State Fisherman Welfare Board chief Mahesh Kewat for the third Rajya Sabha seat in Madhya Pradesh, the political pundits in UP and MP strongly believe that the party may well be eyeing to send out a positive message to the Kewat community in the adjoining UP, which goes to polls in early 2027.
Out of the total 403 assembly seats in politically crucial Uttar Pradesh, the fishermen and boatmen communities which are among the extremely backward castes (EBCs) are present in sizeable numbers in 150-160 riverine assembly segments spread in parts of Eastern UP, Central and Bundelkhand regions, besides western parts of the state.
According to a senior state BJP leader, hailing from East UP’s Varanasi-Mirzapur region, “The Nishads, Kewats, Mallahs, Kashyaps and Binds, which are sub castes of boatmen and fishermen community, particularly have a decisive sway (especially in the event of close electoral contest) on 60-plus seats situated on the banks of major rivers, including Ganga, Yamuna, Gomti and Ghaghra. Though they alone can’t make any party win, they can certainly make any candidate lose in case of close poll contests.”
The upper caste UP BJP leader, particularly reminded how the compulsion of keeping these MBC groups in good humour saw his poll ticket being cut by his party in the 2022 elections, to accommodate the Bind caste candidate of UP minister Sanjay Nishad’s party, who ultimately won that seat also.
“These castes who are traditionally associated with riverine livelihoods, including boating, fishing and earthwork, have made their presence felt majorly in the past in UP. Dreaded bandit-turned-politician Phoolan Devi, who was from Mallah caste won the Mirzapur LS seat of eastern UP in 1996 and 1999, despite being from the boatmen community in central UP. In the 2018 LS by-elections to UP CM Yogi Adityanath’s Gorakhpur seat and deputy CM Keshav Prasad Maurya’s Phulpur seat, the SP candidates also won, importantly due to the support of these EBC castes only. In today’s politics, the Rajya Sabha polls may be fought in some state, but our party often gives a message to strike a chord with voters in the other state, particularly a bound state,” the UP BJP leader added.
According to Lucknow-based senior political journalist Anshuman Shukla, “The 2018 LS by-election loss for the BJP on the Gorakhpur seat (where by-poll was necessitated after the sitting BJP MP Yogi Adityanath became UP CM) particularly prompted the BJP to align with the Nishad Party of Sanjay Nishad. The Vikassheel Insaan Party (VIP) chief Mukesh Sahani is actively campaigning in UP to consolidate the Nishad-Bind EBC vote ahead of the 2027 UP polls. Further, UP minister and Nishad Party chief Sanjay Nishad’s hard stance against his government’s police on the encounter of one Kamlesh Bind in an abduction-murder case in Ghazipur district recently is concerning for the BJP. Owing to the changing political dynamics, BJP may be giving a symbolic message of political empowerment to the entire boatmen-fishermen EBC block by fielding Mahesh Kewat on the third seat in MP.”
A senior MP-based journalist Chandrabhan Singh Bhadauria concurred with Shukla. “Fielding a Kewat caste politician with strong RSS background from Niwari district of Bundelkhand region, which neighbours UP’s Bundelkhand region, will certainly render positive signals to the community in parts of UP’s Bundelkhand region. I originally hail from UP’s Auraiya district, which too has a sizable population of the same EBC segment voters. Any signal of their community’s political empowerment, even in the neighbouring state, may help the BJP strike more chords with them in UP as well as reduce its dependence on community’s leaders like Nishad Party chief Sanjay Nishad. Even in MP in 35-40 riverine assembly seats of Bundelkhand and central MP regions, the move by the BJP to field Mahesh Kewat will be politically helpful in the longer run.”
What makes Mahesh Kewat’s candidature for RS biennial polls in MP more significant is the fact that his family has been associated as the prime priests of Hardaul Ka Baithak (or Hardol's Palace) since decades. It is a historic monument and shrine in Orchha, Madhya Pradesh. While Mahesh’s brother Mukesh is the current priest, in Mukesh’s absence Mahesh himself dons the priest’s role. The family’s association with Hardaul Ka Baithak, makes Mahesh and his family very respected particularly among the boatmen and fisherman community in the Bundelkhand region in MP as well as UP.
Added Shukla, “Even when Dr Mohan Yadav was chosen as the MP CM after 2023 polls, political pundits had linked it to BJP’s outreach to Yadav voters in UP, Bihar and Haryana, so why will the BJP not use this latest political move in MP to reach out to boatmen-fishermen community voters in UP. If the BJP can field Punjab-native Tarun Chugh from MP for the June 18 RS polls from MP with an eye on the 2027 assembly polls in Punjab, why will it not replicate it with Mahesh Kewat for boosting its poll prospects in the UP Assembly polls?”
