With the routing of the Bahujan Samaj Party(BSP) in Uttar Pradesh in the 2024 Parliamentary elections, there seems to be a kind of gloom in the Dalit circle. Undoubtedly, the emergence of the BSP under Kanshi Ram in the 1980s changed the grammar of politics in Uttar Pradesh. Promising to realize the dream of Dr. B.R . Ambedkar, who considered ‘political power as the master key,’Kanshi Ram gave the famous slogan ‘Jiski jitni sankhya bhari, uski utni hissedari’(The greater a community’s numbers, the greater its political representation).’ His politics of assertion unleashed a new era in India’s national politics in general and Uttar Pradesh in particular. However, the BSP, under the leadership of Mayawati, has alienated the integral components of the Bahujan, i.e., Dalits and Muslims. The 2024 Parliamentary elections proved the last nail in the coffin of BSP in Uttar Pradesh, where it could not open its account. Its voting percentage is significantly down to the extent that it failed to emerge even second in all 80 Uttar Pradesh Lok Sabha seats.
Mayawati blamed Muslims for not voting for BSP despite fielding a large number of Muslim candidates. However, political commentators observe that her political opportunism(forming governments with the BJP in U.P), her decision to campaign for Narendra Modi in Gujarat after the 2002 pogrom of Muslims, and her alleged sale of tickets have alienated Muslims. Besides, a political party which based its social and political mobilization programme on Tilak, Trazu aur Talwar, Inko Maro Jute Chaar, in the beginning, started relying on the support of Brahmins. It was interpreted as the ‘unity of opposites.’ Many Dalit cadres and leaders complain that others dominate the party (read Brahmins), and Bahenji does not listen to us. Moreover, the BSP supremo is also accused of air-conditioned drawing room politics rather than the street politics of great Kanshi Ram. Although the debacle of BSP in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections is a significant event, it is unrealistic to write off Mayawati, who has been the icon of Dalit politics in the country. Her future will depend on regaining her traditional support base(Dalits and Muslims). This task is still achievable through a reenergized and rejuvenated BAMCEF.
Chandrashekhar Azad: Naya Sawera(The New Morning) of Bahujan Politics
While apparently there is not much to celebrate for the protagonists of Dalit politics in Uttar Pradesh, they should not underestimate the victory of Chandrashekhar Ravan, the chief of Azad Samaj Party-Kanshi Ram from Nagina. His victory with a considerable margin from a Muslim-dominated(40%) reserved constituency for the Scheduled Castes has the potential to fill the vacuum created by Mayawati. His ideological politics, his victory despite all odds, and his outreach programmes are being downplayed by a section of the mainstream media. These words can be noted that the new sun of the Bahujan movement is rising from Nagina.
The persona of Chandrashekhar, his photos riding a bullet motorcycle, his moustache, his assertive and dominating style of speaking—they all together are a statement in themselves. It is a statement of revolt against what Dalits have suffered in the country. Discrimination, humiliation, indignity, atrocities, and violence against Dalits continue even after 77 years of independence. Sometimes, the members of the community face atrocity and violence for riding a horse or playing music during marriage. The humiliation of Dalit women in the name of practising witchcraft is still reported from the villages. Therefore, Chandrashekhar’s style and persona become the symbol of the expression of liberation for the community he represents. He is indeed emerging as the Che Guevara of Indian politics, as far as his persona is concerned.The young Dalits feel more connected with him than any other leader today.
The rise of Chandrashekhar is a significant breakthrough in Indian politics. It is going to change the political dynamics of Uttar Pradesh. Besides, he can potentially lead the Bahujan movement at the national level.
Chandrashekhar Azad’s victory in Nagina is also the manifestation of the formidable Dalit-Muslim unity. When many proclaimed secular leaders were conspicuously missing at the time of anti-CAA-NRC protests, Chandrashekhar Azad stood by the Muslim community. While Mayawati has alienated Muslims to a great extent, and her support base in the Dalit community has also shrunk, Chandrashekhar Azad’s rise at this juncture serves both purposes. On the one hand, it provides an opportunity for Dalits to come out of the political gloom after the debacle of BSP; on the other, Azad can achieve the much-needed unity of the co-sufferers(Dalits and Muslims). Perhaps this was why INDIA, under the influence of Akhilesh Yadav in Uttar Pradesh, did not want Chandrashekhar to emerge as a Bahujan leader because he could significantly shift the Muslim votes from the Samajwadi Party. Statistics are in favour of Chandrashekhar, as Dalits and Muslims constitute more than 40% of the total population in Uttar Pradesh.
Chandrashekhar Azad’s ideological clarity was reflected in a recent television interview. When asked whether he will join either of the blocs—INDIA or NDA. He categorically said that he would not join NDA even if they made him Prime Minister as his is a politics of principles, not opportunism. He is aware of the fact that BSP lost its traditional support base due to its political opportunism. It is rightly said that there is no permanent enemy or friend in politics, yet it cannot be denied that politics based on the unity of opposites does not last long.
Although it is difficult to predict the course of politics in an ideologically depolarised India, the victory of Chandrashekhar Azad in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections is an event which will shape and guide the politics of Uttar Pradesh. He is a force to reckon with for all major players of Uttar Pradesh politics. His rise with the slogan of Bahujan unity is a counternarrative of the politics of Hindutva of BJP. At the same time, the BSP, Samajwadi Party, and Congress have a competitor in the votes of the Bahujan in Uttar Pradesh.
M.Mohibul Haque, Professor, Department of Political Science, AMU Aligarh
