Loksabha Chunav: Congress’s emphasis on Dalit-Muslim alliance, increased focus on UP, this is the plan

Congress has increased its focus in UP after the public support to Bharat Jodo Yatra. The party is seeking its ground in the Lok Sabha elections with the help of Dalit and Muslim votes. For this, constitution protectors are being prepared in every village.

Published By: Ishwar Ashish, Lucknow

Congress is stressing on Dalit-Muslim alliance. The party’s strategy is that it can not only show charisma in the Lok Sabha by connecting both the vote banks but can also get back its base in future. This is the reason why the focus is being laid on both these sections. For this, constitution protectors are being prepared in every village. These guards will be in direct contact with state level leaders.

Congress has increased the focus on UP after the public support received in various states in Bharat Jodo Yatra. Former Congress national presidents Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi may not have come to UP for a long time, but they are keen to bring the party which has been in exile for nearly three decades, into the mainstream. They are keeping an eye on the political activities here through senior leaders. The top leadership has given instructions to run a continuous campaign regarding the Dalit-minority alliance. Under this, a discussion campaign on tea was started in Dalit settlements through the Minority Department. This is a new experiment. Muslim leaders are going to the Dalits and inviting them to join the Congress. After this there is preparation for the weavers conference. Then after marking the castes doing small business, there will be a separate conference.

Similarly, the scheduled department is preparing teams of youth in the villages. One to five youths in every village will be given the title of protector of the Constitution. This youth will report the situation of the village by being in direct contact with the state level leaders. With this, the party’s network will be created at the village level and information about the political trends of the village will continue to be available.

Why Dalits are important

Alok Prasad, President of the Congress Scheduled Division, says that Dalits have always been the vote bank of the Congress, but after the year 1990 it slipped away. Now the political situation has changed. He is joining Congress. An exercise has been started to connect Dalit youths through the campaign to make them protectors of the Constitution. By July, a target has been set to make at least one constitution protector in every village.

Status of Dalits in the State

Of the 80 Lok Sabha seats in the state, 17 are reserved for Scheduled Castes. In the year 2019 elections, 14 seats were won by BJP, two BSP and one Apna Dal. There is about 21.1 percent Dalit population in the state. Out of these, about 11 percent are Jatavs. Similarly, 3.3 percent are Pasis and 3.15 percent are Valmikis. Sonbhadra district has the highest Dalit population of 41 per cent. About 36 percent of the population in Kaushambi, 31 in Sitapur, 31.50 in Hardoi, 30 in Unnao and 29.80 percent in Rae Bareilly are Dalits. Dalit population is more than 25 percent in about 18 districts.

Now the state is looking towards Congress

State Congress Organization Secretary Anil Yadav says that Dalits and minorities are returning home. During the six months, many people from every district have taken the membership of the party. It has a majority of minorities and Dalits. This is a pleasant message. On behalf of the party, the Mandal Sammelan of Backward Classes is going on. In the same way, the conference of every class will go on continuously.

Courtesy: Amar Ujala

Note: This news piece was originally published in amarujala.com and used purely for non-profit/non-commercial purposes exclusively for Human Rights