Mayawati’s shadow over Maharashtra

An overt attempt is being made to rewrite the rules of the game. Both the BSP as well as the Sena are trying to indoctrinate Dalits into believing that the ends justify the means and that ideological barriers are secondary. In a state where Dalit leaders have traditionally avoided parties like the ‘‘communal’’ BJP and the Sena, the RPI now finds itself in a piquant situation.

In a desperate attempt to consolidate its position among the Dalits, the RPI is making fresh efforts to unify its dozen-odd factions and splinter groups in Maharashtra. The bid is being spearheaded by MP and Sharad Pawar protege Ramdas Athavale, who had earlier unsuccessfully tried to forge a federation of Dalit organisations in the country. The unification attempt has a pre-condition: the president’s post must go to former chairperson of the State Legislative Council, R.S. Gavai, who heads a faction of the party. Thus, Ambedkar’s grandson, Prakash, who is also an MP, has been sidelined.

For decades, the two major factions lead by Athavale and Prakash have crossed swords, stalling the unification process. The reason: Athavale’s ‘‘servility’’ towards Pawar and Prakash’s inconsistent political attitude while dealing with other parties. All unification efforts in the past proved unsuccessful because of lack of agreement over office-bearers and political affiliations. Now, this latest move by Athavale means that he expects the united RPI to support Pawar’s Nationalist Congress Party (NCP). But Prakash, who was earlier with the Left parties, has been a Congress supporter since the last elections.

Meanwhile, with an eye on the next Assembly polls, the BSP has started making inroads into RPI bastions in Maharashtra. It has increased its presence and activities in the Dalit localities. Consequently, Dalit activists who were earlier with various RPI factions have crossed over to the BSP, obviously in the hope of securing better political opportunities. And during his frequent visits, Kanshi Ram has made it a practice to target the RPI, for failing to fulfill the Dalit dream, in his speeches.

Considering all this, some in the RPI feel that they should give serious thought to Uddhav’s offer of an alliance. They are encouraged by the fact that despite her tie-up with the BJP, Mayawati has been able to successfully implement her pro-Ambedkar agenda. In contrast, the RPI’s traditional alliance with parties like the Congress hasn’t borne much fruit.

For the Sena, the next polls will be an acid test for Uddhav. The party’s main rival for the Hindu vote-bank, the BJP, has already initiated efforts to achieve ‘‘shat pratishat BJP (100 per cent BJP)’’. There is also the possibility of the BJP and the BSP trying to replicate the UP experiment in Maharashtra. On the upside, the OBCs and most of the non-Buddhist Dalits are already with the Sena. So an alliance with the RPI — Buddhist Dalits — would give them a crucial edge. In the past, the Sena has attempted to drive a wedge between Hindu Dalits and Buddhist Dalits in the name of Hindutva.

So, caught between Sena and BSP, Athavale has pressed the panic button, calling for unification moves. His loyalty to Pawar will probably prevent him from having any truck with the Sena. Gavai, on his part, has an ulterior motive for supporting Athavale: his bastion in Vidarbha is under threat from BSP.

But unification seems a distant possibility. Since it was formed in October 1957, ten months after the death of Dr Ambedkar, the RPI has been plagued by factionalism. Ambedkar’s lieutenants could not agree on a leader, so a presidium was formed. Since then, the party has broken up and re-united several times, the most contentious issue being it leadership.