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Where is Dalit politics heading?

Young Bites. Dated: 6/23/2017 11:08:14 AM

During freedom struggle when three types of nationalisms were in vogue, Indian Nationalism, Muslim Nationalism and Hindu nationalism, majority of the people of India supported and followed the path of Indian nationalism. Majority Hindus were for Indian nationalism, majority of Muslims were also for Indian nationalism. It was the elite, the landlord, Kings who began communal streams and were later joined in by a section of affluent upper castes of those religions. Today what is happening? From last several years a new dalit leadership has emerged, which on one hand represents a faction of this group and on the other has also personal-family electoral ambitions. So in short term they, for their personal benefits have been sitting in the laps of communal parties. The results of the recently-concluded assembly elections in five states have tremendous implications for subaltern politics in the country. The verdict delivered a body blow to those who claim to represent the cause of the marginalised. It shocked the intelligentsia, which refuses to acknowledge the presence of multiple perspectives. One striking feature in India’s politically most significant state, Uttar Pradesh, is the changing voting dynamics of the Dalit community. Candidates of the Bharatiya Janata Party won in 75 out of 85 assembly constituencies reserved for Scheduled Caste candidates. After coming to power, the BJP has made every effort towards making Bhimrao Ambedkar its leader, be it the launch of BHIM app or converting Ambedkar’s London house to a museum, they are not leaving any stone unturned to woo Dalit voters, and any other party does not match that. Second, the OBCs were never conventionally part of BSP - they were divided among various parties, especially Samajwadi Party (SP), and this election result shows a migration towards the BJP.The SP-Congress alliance in UP has distressed BSP’s computation of getting the Muslim vote, but they were optimistic that their two years’ work of reconstructing party units and old support base, wooing youth, and managing a dedicated social media team would count more. However, Mayawati’s critics allege that she has lost touch with grassroots-level workers and majorly depends on information from aides to make her decisions. Dalits have traditionally been placed in opposition with Muslims in many areas prone to riots. Be it Muzaffarnagar or the Delhi riots, Dalits were used as the front-runners or defenders of Hindus; it resulted in Dalit- Muslim antagonism. Though BSP was trying to bring Muslims into its fold, no significant work has been done to mend differences. Identity politics has become identity plus politics and gone beyond traditional borders; no party can afford to take their core constituency for granted. The BSP failed to reassure that it was the party meant to safeguard Dalits.The absence of any contemporary social movement also impacted Dalit politics. Dalits in Uttar Pradesh are found at the bottom level in every field, be it education, representation in government services or health. They are on top when the incidence of poverty and atrocities are looked at; despite the fact that the BSP formed a government twice during the 1990s and was in power as the sole majority in 2007, the condition of Dalits has not improved much.