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Journalism of Courage
WHILE THE BSP’s decline in Uttar Pradesh continues, the party now has a new challenger to contend with: young Dalit leader Chandrashekhar Azad, who won from the Nagina Scheduled Caste-reserved constituency of western UP by a margin of over 1.51 lakh votes.
Azad, who did not join the INDIA bloc, contested under his own party’s banner — Aazad Samaj Party (Kanshi Ram) – defeating the BJP’s Om Kumar by securing 51.19% of the votes. The BJP share fell to 36%.
The BSP’s Surendra Pal Singh got only 1.33% of the votes, way behind even the Samajwadi Party’s (SP’s) Manoj Kumar, whose vote share was 10.22%. In 2019, the BSP’s Girish Chandra had defeated the BJP’s Yashwant Singh by a margin of 1.66 lakh votes.
While the Dalits (mostly Jatavs, the BSP’s main support base) comprise around 20% of the population in Nagina, Muslims are about 40%. The rest include Thakurs, Jats, Chauhan Rajputs, Tyagis and Banias.
Though Muslims are seen to have rallied behind the SP-Congress alliance across the state, with the BSP’s base considered shrunk but still strong among the Jatavs, in Nagina, Azad seems to have garnered votes from both.
“The BSP has no member in the Lok Sabha now. It is Azad who will raise the issues of Dalits and Muslims in the House. That will help him rise as the leader of Dalits and certainly emerge as an alternative to Mayawati. That will further weaken the BSP,” said a leader of the Aazad Samaj Party (Kanshi Ram) or ASP.
Azad’s victory from Nagina is significant for two more reasons. It is because of his insistence on getting this Lok Sabha constituency that alliance talks between the ASP and SP fell through this time. Following this, the ASP decided to go alone in the polls and Azad then ran a door-to-door campaign in Nagina.
Another significance of the victory lies in its symbolism. In 1989, Mayawati had contested and won from the Bijnor constituency, which falls in Nagina now following the 2008 delimitation.
Originally from Chutmalpur area in Saharanpur district and a law graduate, Azad, 36, formed the Bhim Army in 2015, to fight for the development of Dalits and other marginalised sections. He first emerged in the spotlight as chief of the Bhim Army, and was noticed in political circles for raising the voice of Dalits arrested in connection with clashes with the Thakur community in Shabbirpur village of Saharanpur district in 2017.
Arrested soon after, Chandrashekhar spent a long time in jail after the BJP government in Uttar Pradesh invoked the stringent National Security Act (NSA) against him. He was released in September 2018, after the Act was revoked.
His incarceration in jail as well as his participation in the anti-Citizenship (Amendment) Act protests further cemented his position among Dalits and minorities. Saharanpur district has a considerable population of both.
Apart from the anti-CAA protest, including the one at Shaheen Bagh in Delhi, the Bhim Army also participated in protests against the demolition of the Ravidas Mandir in Delhi.
After expanding his activities to Rajasthan, Delhi and Madhya Pradesh, Azad ventured into politics. He first made overtures to the BSP, but after Mayawati denied any possibility of their joining hands outright, Azad met SP chief Akhilesh Yadav ahead of the 2022 Assembly polls.
However, talks on an alliance between them failed, and Azad announced he would contest from Gorakhpur Sadar against BJP nominee and Chief Minister Yogi Aditynath. He also accused Akhilesh of “insulting” him and sidelining SCs. However, in the 2022 elections, Azad lost badly from Gorakhpur, finishing fourth.
Subsequently, Azad was seen as growing close to the RLD leadership, and campaigned for its candidate in the Khatauli Assembly bypoll in 2022, contributing to the RLD leader’s win against the BJP.
