Long ago, the Dalits constituted a core vote of the Congress in Uttar Pradesh (UP). Then came Kanshi Ram, schooled in Ambedkarite ideology and inclined to the politics of self-respect, with the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP). The Allahabad bypolls in 1988, which launched VP Singh’s innings as an Opposition leader, established the BSP’s presence in UP’s electoral landscape. The bahujan samaj Kanshi Ram envisaged as a political force was a social coalition of Dalits and many backward castes. The BSP made the case for proportional representation and empowered the Dalits. The Congress’s failure to stop the BJP’s mobilisation around the Ram Mandir cost it the support of Muslims, and the rise of the BSP took away the Dalits from the party. Now, as the Congress tries to win back the Dalit vote in UP, it has decided to appeal to Kanshi Ram’s legacy.
This is understandable even if this outreach looks audacious. First, the Congress believes it can fill a vacuum in UP caused by Mayawati’s inexplicable retreat from mobilisational politics. Second, since the party, particularly Rahul Gandhi, now identifies with Kanshi Ram’s old slogan, jiski jitni sankhya bhari, utni uski hissedari (the greater the number, the greater the share), it is fair game to invoke the BSP founder’s legacy. Dalit politics in UP is in flux and new claimants to the Dalit vote – for instance, Chandrasekhar ‘Azad’ – are yet to emerge as mass leaders. However, it is too early to write off Mayawati and the BSP. The party has been on a decline for some years now and managed just one seat in the 2022 UP assembly elections. But the party did win close to 13% of the total votes. So, it is unlikely that the BSP will yield ground to the Congress that easily, or so quickly.
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