Every politician and political party in the 2024 General Election were compelled to take the name of Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar along with his photo at prominent visual points. While the BJP and its allies rallied more towards Hindutva, Mandir and Communal interests, yet they had to speak about reservations, the constitution and Dr Ambedkar in their campaign speeches. Democracy, Constitution and Reservation ruled the campaign discourse across the political spectrum. All these three subjects are credited to Dr. Ambedkar. Today every political party and politician wants a pie of the Ambedkarite ideology at their comfort. While this is ongoing, a new generation of Ambedkarite voters has emerged which shall drive the politics in times ahead.
In independent India’s first Indian General Election -1952, Ambedkar contested from Bombay North but lost to a Congress Party candidate. He tried to enter Lok Sabha again in the by-election of 1954 from Bhandara and lost again. Post 1956, the Republican Party of India (RPI) did win a considerable number of seats in Maharashtra (Mumbai region) Punjab and the Northern Uttar Pradesh belt for a few years. In 1957, six members of the party were elected to the second Lok Sabha. The 12th Lok Sabha, RPI had 4 Members of Parliament elected. Later factionalism resulted in splintering the party into countless abbreviated factions with the same blue flag added with a colour and or an “alphabet” to indicate the faction. Many times these factions have contested the same seat and have ended up losing their deposits.
Kanshi Ram progressed from BAMSEF, DS4 to Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) which enthroned Mayawati as Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh for four times, a state known for atrocities against Dalits and women with feudal and patriarchal conscience. This was a remarkable feat, an achievement which history will always take note. Mayawati’s term ended in 2012 (as Chief Minister) and she quit Rajya Sabha in 2017. This, Mayawati as CM, was golden period in Dalit electoral politics, but sadly after remitting office, she has been quite silent on many issues concerning Dalits at large.
Winning in Indian elections is determined by the First Past the Post system, which ensures victory to a candidate with the maximum votes. There is no minimum threshold, just 1 vote more than the second-highest candidate is enough to ensure victory. We have carried this colonial legacy and many have advocated for Proportional Representation in India. Coalition politics is a blurred image of Proportional Representation, but in the last decade India witnessed unipersonal-centred governance and politics.
The new-age Dalit politicians and voters, the millennials and GenZ have not witnessed the legacy of Kanshiram or RPI in their golden days. Their memory of coalitional politics is also limited. Yet they have smartly moved to ensure their voices being heard, in and out of the parliament/assembly.
Speaking of the 2024 General Election results, Chandra Shekhar Azad, a social activist, Ambedkarite activist, lawyer, chief and co-founder of the Bhim Army and also the national president of the Azad Samaj Party won Nagina (Uttar Pradesh) Lok Sabha constituency by securing 512552 votes with a margin of 1,51,473 votes. In the same constituency, the BSP candidate secured only 13272 votes coming fourth. He had focused and directed all his energy in the western Uttar Pradesh region for almost a decade.
Varsha Eknath Gaikwad, a sitting MLA and ex-minister in Maharashtra Assembly contested from Mumbai North Central a general (non-reserved) constituency, not her home ground and won. She is a member of the Indian National Congress.
Thol. Thirumavalavan a political leader, scholar and activist from Tamil Nadu, and also President of Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi (VCK) won from Chidambaram (reserved) constituency while the party’s general secretary D Ravikumar, an intellectual, writer, lawyer politician and an anti-caste activist won from a general (unreserved) constituency Viluppuram.
The Amravati (MH) constituency is a learning for future Dalit Electoral Politics. While Balwant Baswant Wankhade has won with 526271 (margin 19731) votes, the list of candidates contested would be surprising. Anandraj Yashwant Ambedkar, the grandson of Babasaheb Ambedkar, also contested this seat from his party Republican Sena and secured 18793 or 1.6% of votes. A total of 37 candidates contested this seat (https://results.eci.gov.in/PcResultGenJune2024/ConstituencywiseS137.htm) A glance at their surnames (title name) would reveal their caste details. 31 candidates secured votes less than NOTA. The losing candidate was an incumbent MP from the BJP skilled with high drama and high decibel capability to draw media attention.
The BSP contested a whooping 270 seats across India, polled 2.04% votes and secured zero seats. It also got 9.39% of votes in Uttar Pradesh where it contested all 80 seats. RPI did not contest any seat, may be a pre poll compulsion with BJP/NDA. Prakash Ambedkar led Vanchit Bahujan Aaghadi also did not win a single seat of the 38 it contested in Maharashtra, while they secured 15,66,949 votes.
The Millennials and GenZ Dalit Ambedkarite have cleverly decoded the FPTP. They are not siding with a party that contests every possible seat and draws a zero. They want winnability. The era of street politics or non-electoral politics has changed and moved to social media. These parties have no presence on social media.
Chandra Shekhar Azad marched to Jama Masjid (Delhi) in 2020 with a copy of the Constitution of India, having a picture of Ambedkar, during the protests for the Citizenship Act. He also read the Preamble. This stunt was not liked by many veteran and old Ambedkarite leaders, but the youth was pulled towards him. He managed to give appropriate media bites and interviews to newly founded alternative online media channels and highlight his work. He ensured he was in news during every atrocity in the North India region. He created a brand of himself while focusing on Western UP as a constituency. While he had created a brand, a party, they did not contest every possible seat. They focused on one seat to ensure victory.
Rahul Gandhi later picked up the Constitution and made it a mass movement, he also read the preamble at many places during the Bharat Jodo Yatra.
Thol. Thirumavalavan has been a well-recognised (Dalit) leader across Tamil Nadu. He formed a perfect alliance which gave him only 2 seats to contest, one reserved and one unreserved and VCK won both. VCK could have contested all 39 seats in Tamil Nadu, but focused on 2 and ensured victory. A lesson to learn for other parties, form alliances and maximize victory rather than contesting all seats with zero victory.
Varsha Gaikwad, contested from a general seat which was not even her home ground yet won. The Dalit voters were clear in her constituency to ensure her victory and did not vote for BSP or VBA. They also campaigned for her across community lines. A seat earlier held by BJP for last two terms, was not an easy one.
Being part of multiple social media groups, I read the debates over last two days. The older generation is still in a utopian dream that BSP will come to power, Mayawati can be Prime Minister one day. They support Prakash Ambedkar whenever he contests from any random seat from Maharashtra. They are okay with the loss of seat and focus on vote share.
The young know, its about winning. They can’t afford to wait for 5 years and see a party grow. They are fine when a Dalit focuses on a region, nurtures it and contests or when an alliance is made and limited seats are won and also when a Dalit contests from a general seat from a national party. All they want is their voice to reach the Parliament. Elected members speak in parliament, vote share does not and neither does contesting every possible seat make you heard in parliament.
We need voices in Parliament to speak about our issues. The days of street protests and bands are long gone. Social media is the future. Trends and Memes will attract GenZ. The GenZ are going to clubs like Boiler Room and grooving to Swadesi Movement’s Warli Revolt (Adivasi) song. The locations to tap the youth have changed, the politicians have remained old school. These older parties have reached their expiry date, the veterans need to accept this truth.
The future will lie in focus on the winnability of seats, perfect alliance and contesting from like-minded parties. The more the Ambedkarite leaders in Parliament, the more democratic this country will be. While we boast of being the world’s largest democracy, the democracy index terms India as a Flawed democracy. Ambedkarite voices are essential in Parliament to improve the quality of democracy for justice and adequate representation of the marginalised sections.
Vivek Sakpal is a political commentator
