Analysts say some Dalit sub-castes have warned the party leadership of switching loyalties
At a time when Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) supremo Mayawati is trying to sew up a Dalit-Muslim alliance to return to power in the crucial state of Uttar Pradesh (UP), there is disquiet within various sub-castes of the Dalits. Many of them feel that Mayawati’s dominant Jatav caste, which mainly deals with leather works, takes most of the benefits, leaving others high and dry.
Another disenchanting factor is that over the past few years, barring Muzaffarnagar riots, most communal tensions reported in the state have erupted between these Dalit sub-castes and Muslims, who mostly live as neighbours in the villages and have claim on similar resources.
Analysts say that among the 65 Dalit castes, more than 55 which are less privileged such as Basor, Sapera, Kuchbadhiya, Musahar, Begaar, Tantwa, Rangrej and Sarvan have vociferously conveyed to the party leadership that they too want a pie in the Dalit cake, or will switch their loyalties at this critical juncture of Mayawati’s battle for political survival.
Saharanpur, at the tip of Western UP, has been a stronghold of the BSP. During 2012 polls, when the party fared badly all over the state, it won four out of seven Assembly seats in the district.
The BJP has particularly fielded non-Jatav Dalits to blunt the edge of the BSP. It has a similar strategy against the SP, by luring the non-Yadav Backward Castes. Out of 85 reserved constituencies, the BJP, has given 65 tickets to non-Jatav Dalits. The idea is to focus more on Dalit communities that are not that have not reaped benefits during the BSP rule. Out of around 25 per cent Dalit votes in UP, non-Jatavs make around 14 per cent.
Similarly, out of around 25 per cent strong Backward Caste population, the BJP is eyeing the approximately 15 per cent non-Yadav segment. It comes as no surprise then that BJP and its allies together have given tickets to 134 Backward Caste candidates, of whom only nine are Yadavs.
“Jatavs among Dalits continue to be firmly behind Mayawati. Similarly, Yadavs, more or less, continue to be with Akhilesh Yadav and his party. Hence, the BJP has devised a clear strategy to target leftover Dalits and Backwards Castes,” says Raghav Lakanpal, BJP leader and local MP.
The party has handed over 39 tickets to the Pasi, Dhobi and Khatik castes, besides giving representation to around 11 other non-Jatav Dalit castes in ticket distribution. Amongst the Backward Castes, it has fielded 29 Kurmi, 24 Maurya and 20 Lodh and 15 Jat candidates.
BSP ticket share
Believing that some 38 per cent vote share that includes Yadav, Jatavas and Muslims were out of their reach, a local BJP leader said it was natural for them to hunt other pastures. With an estimated 25 per cent upper caste population, this together makes around 55 per cent of the voters. The leader also says that his party doesn’t believe in caste or community calculus and reaches out to everybody. But a look at the list of candidates tells that a majority 184 tickets have gone to upper castes, which includes 66 to Brahmins, 67 to Rajputs and 28 to the Vaishya community
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