BJP wins Dalit support with social engineering, double ration
LUCKNOW: BJP’s performance on reserved assembly seats has once again turned the arc lights on the saffron party’s dexterous strategy to fortify its presence among Dalits and bring them, along with the upper castes, under an overarching umbrella of Hindu consolidation.
The development marks BJP going back to its tried-and-tested ‘social engineering’ playbook that presumably hefted it as a political behemoth since 2014 Lok Sabha election. Accounting for 21% of the voting population, the community was being eyed by all parties.
BJP stoked a bipolar contest with SP amid a perceptible mild positioning by BSP, essentially a Dalit-based political outfit. According to experts, with BSP losing nearly 10% of votes as compared to 2017, BJP managed to consolidate Dalit voters through welfare schemes and SP could not bridge the divide between its core Yadav vote bank and the Dalit community.
BSP’s domination over Dalits has been consistently challenged by BJP which has also been banking on welfare measures that sought to cut through caste lines. Experts said steps like “double ration” distributi and Jan Aushadhi Scheme clicked with the oppressed classes.
Courtesy : Times of india
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