CHANDIGARH: Punjab has the largest density of Scheduled Caste population in the country, over 33% are spread across the state as per the 2011 census.
This should translate into a huge vote bank, enough to swing votes and decide the fate of elections. But the reality is that because all the political parties vie for their votes, the community is divided, fragmented and disjointed, making them bit players on the electoral field.
The February 20 Assembly polls are likely to follow past trends of SC votes getting divided between Congress, Aam Aadmi Party and Shiromani Akali Dal, which has now allied with the Mayawati-led Bahujan Samaj Party.
Of the 117 seats in the state Assembly, 34 are reserved. In the 2017 polls, Congress won the most with 21 seats, followed by AAP 9, SAD 3 and BJP one. In 2012, SAD had won 21 of these seats, followed by Congress 10 and BJP 3.
Congress factored in the caste configuration when it selected Charanjit Singh Channi, an SC, as the chief minister in a state where the majority Sikhs are supposed to be a caste-less community. Paradoxically, the vote share of BSP that champions the cause of the SCs nose-dived to 1.5% in 2017 from 4.29% in 2012.
Punjab is the birthplace of the party’s founder, Kanshi Ram. The BSP has said if the SAD-BSP alliance comes to power, it will appoint an SC as Deputy CM. The BSP is losing its vote share since the 2004 general election when it got 7.67%.
In terms of seats too, the party’s record has been dismal: In 1992 Assembly elections, which the Akalis boycotted, BSP won nine seats with a vote share of 16.32% and won one Lok Sabha seat. The BJP, too, has announced that if the party comes to power, it will be appoint an SC as Deputy CM.
Som Parkash, a prominent SC leader from Punjab, is the Union Minister of State for Commerce and Industry. Another SC leader, Vijay Sampla, is chairman of the National Commission for Scheduled Castes.
The AAP has given the post of Leader of the Opposition in Punjab to an SC, Harpal Singh Cheema, and promised the Deputy CM’s post to the community if voted to power.
AAP national convener Arvind Kejriwal has promised to provide free education to children from the SC community, besides bearing their coaching fees for higher studies, if his party is voted to power.
The SC community has 39 sub-castes and of these, five constitute more than 80% of the SC population: Mazhabi Sikhs 30%, Ravidasias 24% cent, Ad Dharmis 11%, Valmiki 10% and 6% Rai Sikhs as per a report by the Union Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment released in 2018.
Of the 117 seats, the Doaba region comprising 23 seats is home to the maximum SCs at 37%. This is followed by 31% in the Malwa region with 69 seats and 29% in Majha with 25.
Pramod Kumar, director of the Institute of Development Studies, said there is no exclusive SC vote bank in Punjab.
“They are represented in all parties historically. The appointment of Channi as CM might give a psychological edge to a section of the SC population, but it may not convert into votes.” Kumar said the biggest reason why SC votes are fragmented is that the voters do not follow any particular ideology. This is also the reason why BSP has failed to attract SC votes.
Ronki Ram of Panjab University, an expert on SC politics, said the community does not vote en bloc.
“The Channi factor will hardly work. A chunk of votes can also go to the farmers’ party, Sanyukt Samaj Morcha, especially in Malwa region,” said Ram.
