Kalyani Shankar
Dalit icon BR Ambedkar is the flavour of this year as political parties are competing for Dalit votes, which are up for grabs. With efforts from the Modi Government, it is for the first time that the United Nations observed his 125th birth anniversary, a day ahead of his birthday. Prime Minister Narendra Modi himself paid homage to the departed leader by visiting his birth place in Mhow, to observe Social Harmony Day. To claim Ambedkar’s legacy, the Congress too organised a big rally in Nagpur on Monday. The Bharatiya Janata Party and the Congress are wooing Dalits for electoral politics. Prime Minister Modi not only laid the foundation stone for Ambedkar memorial in Mumbai last year, but also initiated the process for Parliament to observe Constitution Day on November 26, 2015. While on the one hand, the Congress is looking to regain its lost Dalit support, the BJP on the other hand, is looking for an expanded space to improve its bania-brahmin image.
Both the national parties had announced year-long plans to celebrate the 125th anniversary of Ambedkar. Also, his birth and death anniversaries, draws huge crowds to Mumbai. All of this has happened only after reports from across the country about Dalit oppression. The recent death of a Dalit scholar, Rohith Vemula, is a classic example of their status in this country. Vemula’s suicide note speaks not only about the alienation of the Dalits, but raises doubts about the ruling party’s ability to consolidate a pan-India vote that cuts across communities.
Till the 1990s, Ambedkar was an untouchable for any political party. The implementation of the recommendations of the Mandal Commission report, the honouring of Bharat Ratna by the VP Singh Government and the rise of identity-based political parties like the Bahujan Samaj Party made the national parties wake up and claim his legacy.
A splintered polity made the political parties realise that they needed social engineering. The irony is that Ambedkar was close neither to the Congress nor to the Hindu Mahasabha. He was critical of Mahatma Gandhi and the Right-wing was critical of him when he tried to modernise Hindu personal law in 1951.
However, things have changed now. The Congress, which had the Dalit support earlier, is now trying to regain its lost hold. The BJP is looking for new icons and new leaders. There was a time when the Congress had tall leaders from the Dalit community, like Jagjivan Ram. The BJP did not have many Dalit leaders. The first Dalit leader to head the party was Bangaru Laxman, who got bogged down in a corruption case.
The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh with its ‘one well, one temple and one crematorium’ slogan is trying to end discrimination in villages. The Congress too has come up with a systematic approach. Their plan includes creating jobs for the Dalits in the private sector. The party’s focus is on urban middle class Dalits.
However, how far these two parties will succeed, in competing with parties born of identity politics, is not known. Clearly, there has been a shift from identity politics to aspirational politics. Dalits are no longer voting on the basis of identity as was done in the 2014 Lok Sabha poll where Prime Minister Modi clinched on the Dalit vote. The BJP’s vote share among Dalits had doubled from 12 per cent to 24 per cent. This was because of a growing Dalit middle class, increasing Dalit assertion and Dalit empowerment. The BJP surpassed both the Congress and the BSP in attracting Dalit votes.
The recent shift among the Dalit voters towards the BJP was for two reasons. First, a tactical pre-electoral alliance with parties like the Lok Janshakti Party, the Republican Party of India (Athawale) and the induction of Udit Raj in Delhi. Second, rising Dalit aspirations . However, it is not sure whether this support to the saffron party will continue or wane away.
The BSP, on the other hand, lost a substantial portion of its vote base to the BJP in Uttar Pradesh, Haryana Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra and Delhi. BSP chief Mayawati lost because her social engineering had not continued and other castes which supported her overwhelmingly, deserted her. However, she is now working at the ground level for the 2017 Assembly poll. The Uttar Pradesh Assembly poll outcome will give a clear indication of the Dalit power.
