The party won more almost double the votes of other major parties in UP in the 2014 Lok Sabha polls because of the shift of Dalit votes towards the BJP.
In the early hours of the morning, a little away from the Bijnor-Moradabad national highway, braving cold a group of Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) 'pracharakas' — after their routine morning exercise — are engaged in an animated discussion with inhabitants of a Dalit locality of Behairpur village in Hafizabad block.
Armed with pamphlets reading — "Rashtrahit me kaam karne wale jo log hain, unke paksh me matdata apna matdaan karein" (Voters should vote for those who work for national interest) the pracharakas are trying to convince village headman Om Prakash Valmiki to lead his community to vote for the BJP and PM Modi once again, as they did in the 2014 Lok Sabha polls.
They are also reminding Valmiki that it was Modi last year, who announced the provision of loans between Rs 10 lakh and Rs 1 crore for setting up new enterprises for SC/ST entrepreneurs.
The 'pracharak' then tries to explain the virtues of the just launched digital payment app BHIM — Bharat Interface for Money — named after Babasaheb Dr Bhimrao Ambedkar to highlight the central government's love for the welfare of Dalits.
But Valmiki directs a pointed question to him. "During the last Lok Sabha polls we were promised that to return for our support to Modi, all upper castes would vote with us in the assembly to anoint Behenjji as chief minister," he replies.
Whatever the pracharaks may say they can no way convince Valmiki to abandon Mayawati, as he says she is still the last refuge for his community. In the last Lok Sabha polls, the BJP landed 34.3 million votes against SP's 18 million and BSP's 15.9 million. A key component was the shift of Dalit votes towards the BJP.
When the pracharaks left the village, Valmiki tells dna that during Mayawati's rule, they got some respect in police stations and at the local tehsil office. "The rest of the time, we are shooed away. Police refuses to act on our complaints. This is what matters in the hinterland more than any welfare scheme," he points out.
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