The Young Dalit MPs Entering the 18th Lok Sabha As First Time Parliamentarians

Bhim Army chief and Aazad Samaj Party (Kanshi Ram) founder Chandra Shekhar Aazad, the Samajwadi Party’s Priya Saroj and Pushependra Saroj, as well as the Congress’s Sanjana Jatav are among the young Dalit MPs entering the 18th Lok Sabha.

New Delhi: The 18th Lok Sabha will see several young Dalit MPs who will be entering parliament for the first time. This includes Bhim Army chief and Azad Samaj Party (Kanshi Ram) founder Chandra Shekhar Aazad, the Samajwadi Party’s Priya Saroj and Pushependra Saroj, as well as the Congress’s Sanjana Jatav.

According to an analysis by political scientist Gilles Verniers in the Hindustan Times, the representation of OBCs from the Hindi heartland in the Lok Sabha has increased from 25.7% in the 17th Lok Sabha to 31% in the 18th and current Lok Sabha.

Representation of SCs and STs only noted a small increase in comparison. SC representation increased from 17.3% to 17.7% while that of STs increased from 8% to 8.04%.

Nationally, the representation of OBCs increased from 22.8% in 2019 to 25.4% in 2024. As in the Hindi heartland, the representation of SCs increased only marginally at the national level, from 15.5% in 2019 to 15.8%. The representation of STs remained the same at 10.1%.

Here is a look at some of the young Dalit MPs who will enter parliament:

Chandra Shekhar Azad

Azaad, 37, has recorded a resounding victory in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections by winning Uttar Pradesh’s Nagina seat by a margin of over 1.5 lakh votes.

In an interview to The Wire, Aazad, who was an activist for over a decade before forming the Aazad Samaj Party, said that it is the people of the country and not the opposition that have defeated the BJP.

“The Dalit voter is very intelligent. I believe that they understand the constitution, its power, reservations and the government’s duties very well. There is a lot of awareness now among backward communities,” he said.

“I believe that this time, the people of the country have fought these elections and not the opposition. The people of the country fought to defeat the BJP in this election, against their policies and their statements and their arrogance. And if any other party attempts this again in the future, even they will meet the same fate that the BJP has today.”

In 2022, he contested against Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath from Gorakhpur but finished fourth.

Aazad’s victory comes less than a year after he sustained a bullet injury when his convoy was shot at in Saharanpur. Long known as a grassroots political activist, Aazad has spent time in jail, including during the anti-Citizenship Amendment Act protests in 2019.

Sanjana Jatav

The Congress’ Sanjana Jatav, 26, one of the youngest members of the 18th Lok Sabha, has won the general election from Rajasthan’s Bharatpur by over 51,000 votes, defeating BJP candidate Ramswaroop Koli.

Her victory came barely six months after she lost the 2023 Rajasthan assembly elections from Alwar’s Kathumar by 409 votes to the BJP’s Ramesh Khinchi.

A law graduate, the young Dalit MP said to The Hindu that she won as “too much of religion-related violence [had] made [the] people choose her.”

“Unemployment, healthcare, everything needs immediate attention in my constituency,” she added.

Priya Saroj

Priya Saroj, 25, of the Samajwadi Party won from Uttar Pradesh’s Machchalishahr constituency, defeating sitting BJP MP B.P. Saroj by over 30,000 votes.

Saroj has been elected from the constituency that her father Toofani Saroj represented from 2009 to 2014. While she is a first time parliamentarian, she assisted her father in the 2022 assembly election campaign.

“I always played an active role in social activities in college and university … I have grown up in a political environment. In the 2022 elections, my father contested the assembly elections. I looked after the campaigning during the election. So, poll politics is not new to me. I know the people of the area. With the blessings of people, I won the election,” she said to the Hindustan Times.

“As an MP, I will work to create employment opportunities for the [youth] … Simultaneously, I will work for women’s empowerment.”

Pushpendra Saroj

Pushpendra Saroj, 25, fielded by the Samajwadi Party from Uttar Pradesh’s Kaushambi, is also a first term parliamentarian.

Saroj defeated sitting BJP MP Vinod Kumar Sonkar by a margin of over one lakh votes.

Sonkar had won the seat in both the 2014 and 2019 Lok Sabha elections.

In the 2019 elections, Sonkar had defeated Saroj’s father Indrajeet Saroj from the same constituency.

“My father contested the seat in 2019 and lost to the BJP’s Vinod Kumar Sonkar. This time, I was appointed, and the BJP candidate said ‘I defeated your father last time and now I’ll defeat you’. The people of Kaushambi took it upon themselves and voted for me,” he said to NDTV.

“I knew in 2024, I’d turn 25. I decided to enter politics. I met our party president, Akhilesh Yadav. After speaking to me, he was convinced and suggested that I contest from the seat instead of my father.”

Courtesy : The Wire

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