Has BJP’s dalit card failed in UP

Feedback received by the RSS on its dalit outreach programmes show that though the BJP is the “second biggest claimant” for dalit votes, and is also perceived to be “visibly doing lot of work” for the upliftment of the community, it has so far failed to “culturally identify” itself with the community. Efforts by the Sangh Parivar, including the BJP, to present themselves as representative of the community, seem to have failed to impress as dalits are yet to identify themselves with the BJP. BSP supremo Mayawati’s persona remains “unmatched”, at least in the politically crucial state of Uttar Pradesh, where Assembly elections are just months away.

For the BJP, this feedback could be disheartening, especially when crucial Assembly elections are scheduled in key states, including where dalits are numerically strong.

In Gujarat, where pundits are predicting a political realignment after the Una incident in which dalits were beaten up, feedback suggests that the BJP, which has been ruling the state since 1998, is fast losing its “social neutrality”. The BJP, feedback suggests, has also failed to properly counter the “propaganda” against it by the Opposition, who call the party anti-dalit, because it is the “social question” which is guiding the community over the “anti-dalit” incidents.

Both the BJP and the Narendra Modi government have launched various initiatives for the dalit community, and are often accused by the Opposition for trying to appropriate the legacy of B.R. Amdedkar for political benefits.

However, feedback suggests that though the community would go “socially soft” towards the BJP and the Modi government, when the issue is political, dalits would side with those who will give them “representation of pride”.

One issue that the dalit community feels strongly about is that the BJP has failed to “culturally identify” itself with the community, and most of its leaders do not deliver “progressive speeches”, which is one of the requirments for “culturally identifying” with the community.

The community feels that in the BJP, dalit leaders are not properly nurtured, and most of them have failed to represent the “aspirations” of the community.