Opinion The message behind BSP’s loss in UP polls

In the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, the BSP had tied up with the SP and RLD, and since the Dalit vote is often based on ideology, therefore in all probability, the BSP votes have shifted to the SP and RLD to defeat the BJP.

Bahujan Samaj Party chief Mayawati attends a review meeting with BSP leaders, to discuss the party's performance in the recent Assembly polls, in Lucknow. (Photo: PTI)

Vivek Kumar

April 17, 2022 09:21 AM IST First published on: Apr 17, 2022 at 04:01 AM IST

The 2022 Uttar Pradesh election verdict is a latent function of deep communal and casteist mobilisation. However, it is being camouflaged under the garb of development and good governance. On the one hand there was ‘Kairana, Kashi, Ayodhya, Mathura, Jinnah, Assi-Bees, bulldozer (against a particular community), Teen Talaq’, and on the other side, the mobilisation of Brahmins, non-Yadavs (Kurmi, Lodh, Gujjar, Jaat, Rajbhar, Maurya, Saini, Nonia, Chauhan, Nishad, Nai), and non-Jatavs (Pasi, Dhobi, Kori, Khatik, Valmiki, Dhanuk) became the fulcrum of electioneering. Above all, the mainstream corporate media, YouTube media, pollsters, and so-called intellectuals, on the basis of flop-rallies by leaders of two political parties, described the UP elections as bipolar. Once this perception crystallised amongst masses, they forgot unemployment, price rise, Covid deaths, Hathras case, Unnao case etc.

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This false consciousness created a strong perception that the contest is between the BJP and SP and that the BSP is not in the fight at all. So the Muslims, OBCs, and a few upper-caste voters who have traditionally voted for the BSP, deserted it. Had this section voted for development and good governance, for which the BSP had the best record during its 2007-12 term in UP, they would have picked the party again.

It is a fact that in this election the BSP lost approximately 74 lakh votes in comparison to 2017. The SP gained 1.26 crore and its ally, the RLD, gained 10 lakh votes. In the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, the BSP had tied up with the SP and RLD, and since the Dalit vote is often based on ideology, therefore in all probability, the BSP votes have shifted to the SP and RLD to defeat the BJP.

So did the BJP raise its tally? Of course, because of the Congress (which lost approximately 32 lakh votes) and the Shiv Sena (did not contest). The voters of these parties have no hesitation in voting for the BJP. It is in this context that the theory that the Dalit vote has shifted to the BJP is nothing but an ignorance of history.
Historically, non-Jatavs have always voted for the BJP (or the Jana Sangh). At one point, they were also considered Congress vote bank, before shifting to the BSP. This narrative was constructed to save the so-called upper-castes from being questioned — why did they vote en-bloc for the BJP.

That the BSP is the B-team of the BJP is another narrative which speaks volumes about caste prejudice. In Goa, the Trinamool Congress contested polls for the first time and did not win any seat, and in turn helped the BJP to retain power. Yet, nobody calls the TMC a B-team of the BJP. Mamata Banerjee also travelled to UP to campaign for the SP.

The caste prejudice in Indian politics is not only towards the BSP’s Mayawati. Take Congress’s Charanjit Singh Channi. In Punjab polls. Jat Sikhs and Hindus did not vote for Channi although he is a well-educated and seasoned politician. It is established fact that in Punjab, the Akalis and the Congress come to power alternatively, and the Jat Sikhs, Hindus and Dalits have voted for the Congress for 70 years. However, this time, AAP weaned away Jats, Hindus and non-Ravidasis and Ramdasis from Congress by projecting a Jat Sikh as CM.

Then what is the way forward for BSP? The answer lies in the fact that the BSP is not only a political party, it is a social movement. Losing and winning an election is part of the movement and till the gaps in democracy are filled, BSP will remain relevant.

Nonetheless, after five elections (UP polls — 2012, 2017, 2022 — and two general elections — 2014, 2019) it has been established that the mainstream society is not ready to accept the BSP as a centrist party, even though it is hailed for its good governance, social justice (land distribution), pro-poor schemes (Ambedkar Village, Kanshiram Housing Schemes), and development (with GDP of the state on a par with the national numbers during 2007-12).

Therefore, it has to reinvent its old ideology and identify elements which exploit Bahujans in institutions of governance, education, production and social life. It has to repeat its 2007 performance to provide representation to Bahujans in institutions of governance to strengthen democracy.

Kumar is professor of sociology at Jawarharlal Nehru University

Suraj Yengde, the author of Caste Matters, curates the fortnightly ‘Dalitality’ column