It should be noted that this is the failure of BSP as a party, not of Dalit politics. The state of Dalit politics today is such that all the movements of deprived communities in the country have Ambedkarism at the center. Read this analysis
Naval Kishore Kumar, (Edited by: Rajan/Anil)
Two things came to the fore clearly in this Lok Sabha election. One thing is that those who were exploited, oppressed and deprived, not only came forward and participated in the election but also did what seemed impossible before the election. When the election results came, the BJP, which had raised the slogan of crossing 400, was reduced to 240 seats and the entire NDA alliance to 293 seats. The second thing is that this time Dalit politics took a new turn. On one hand, Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) yearned for a single seat despite getting 9.39 percent votes in Uttar Pradesh, while on the other hand, Chandrashekhar Azad, who came into the limelight during the Saharanpur riots, has given a new option to Dalit politics by winning the Nagina reserved seat with a good margin.
Before we consider the condition and direction of Dalit politics, let us first look at its past. Pure Dalit politics was started by Dr. Ambedkar and that too when the British were ruling this country. The pages of history record the first and second Round Table Conferences held in London during 1930-32, in which Dr. Ambedkar demanded separate elections for the communities then called untouchables. This should be considered the beginning of Dalit politics. Although Mahatma Gandhi foiled his demand by fasting unto death in Yerwada Jail, he could not stop the expansion of Dalit politics. Dr. Ambedkar expanded this politics through the Scheduled Caste Federation. After independence, as the chairman of the drafting committee of the Constituent Assembly, Dr. Ambedkar strengthened the foundation of Dalit politics by ensuring reservation for Dalit castes in government jobs and higher education, apart from Parliament and Legislative Assembly. He wanted to see this being realised in electoral politics, so he also formed the Republican Party of India (RPI). But before he could give a concrete shape to RPI, he passed away on 6 December 1956. Although RPI did come into existence after this, its edge kept on diminishing with time and then came the time of Dalit Panther in the 1970s, which certainly did not give any edge to Dalit politics, but it definitely gave courage. But, its activity remained limited to Maharashtra only.
The credit for giving a new identity to Dalit politics goes to Kanshi Ram, whose legacy is currently being inherited by Mayawati in the form of Bahujan Samaj Party. The specialty of Kanshi Ram was that he did not limit Dalit politics only to Dalit castes, but included all the deprived communities in it. His cycle yatra will be remembered for a long time in Indian politics and also that by forming BAMSEF, he equipped the working Dalit community with political consciousness. The result was that BSP succeeded in forming the government in Uttar Pradesh first with Samajwadi Party and later with BJP and in 2007 this party reached the pinnacle of success and paved the way to form the government in the state on its own.
Chandrashekhar Azad and BSP chief Mayawati victorious from Nagina
But this was in 2007 and now 16-17 years have passed since then. During this time BSP is losing its credibility day by day. This can be estimated from the fact that BSP, which once did Bahujan politics, has now become a party doing only Jatav politics in the political corridors. And now this identity of its has also suffered a setback. By winning the Nagina seat on his own, Chandrashekhar has proved that the people of the Jatav community are also not slaves of BSP.
If we talk according to the figures, when the Lok Sabha elections were held in 2019, there was an alliance between BSP and SP. In this election, BSP got a total of 19.34 percent votes and the number of seats was 10. At the same time, Samajwadi Party got a total of 18.11 percent votes, but the number of seats was only five. This time BSP did not join the India Alliance and had to bear the stigma of BJP’s ‘B’ party on its forehead. The result was that its vote percentage decreased by more than ten percent and the success was zero. But it should be noted that this is the failure of BSP as a party, not of Dalit politics. The state of Dalit politics today is such that all the movements of deprived communities in the country have Ambedkarism at the center. Dr. Ambedkar’s constitution became the central narrative in this election, which brought down the BJP, intoxicated by the frenzy of its overwhelming majority, to 240. The difference is that Dalit politics, flowing like a river, has found its own way and is now flowing. Now there is no possibility of anyone putting their label on this politics. Even Mayawati herself cannot stop its pace. The emergence of Chandrashekhar is an example of this. But now Chandrashekhar will have to stand the test of Dalit politics. For this, he will have to build the credibility of his party.
Anyway, Dalit politics is not a victim of inertia. But it is competing with hegemonic politics, politicians doing Dalit politics will also have to understand this. Now those days are over when someone would call himself a Dalit politician by holding a photo of Dr. Ambedkar in his hand. Ram Vilas Paswan is a great example of this, who was definitely known as a Dalit politician but he could never become the carrier of Dalit politics. The same is the condition of Mayawati now. PS Dalit politics is not stagnant.
Courtesy : Hindi News
