‘Hope PM Modi will confer Bharat Ratna on Kanshi Ram who made sacrifices for Dalits, backwards’: BJP UP MP

His demand got the backing of BSP chief Mayawati, who said her party would welcome the move to confer a Bharat Ratna on her mentor Kanshi Ram, even as she urged the ruling BJP to stop “misleading Dalits”.

Sagar, 48, who belongs to the Jatav Dalit community, began his career with the BSP and served as the party’s zonal coordinator. He also served as a minister of state in the Mayawati-led UP government between 2007 and 2012. However, he lost the Assembly polls from Powayan in the 2012 Assembly polls. He joined the BJP in 2015 and was appointed the party’s vice-president for the Braj region. He is currently the lone Jatav Dalit BJP MP from the state.

In an interview with The Indian Express, Sagar speaks on a range of issues, including his demands as well as the Dalit politics in UP. Excerpts:

Being a BJP MP, why have you demanded a Bharat Ratna for Kanshi Ram?

I demand this honour for Kanshi Ram as he has brought about social change and made sacrifices for the Dalits and backward communities. I am hopeful that Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who always speaks in the interest of Dalits, oppressed classes and backward sections of society, will confer Bharat Ratna on Kanshi Ram.

There have been several Dalit leaders in other parties and states. Yet, you demanded Bharat Ratna only for Kanshi Ram.

Various personalities have been honoured with Bharat Ratna. When the BJP had supported the V P Singh government, Kanshi Ram had demanded Bharat Ratna for B R Ambedkar, a demand which was fulfilled. Hence, the credit for Ambedkar’s Bharat Ratna must go to the BJP.

Have you consulted anyone in the BJP or approached any Union minister with your demand?

No, I have not discussed this with the party. But in the coming days, I will speak to the top party leadership in this regard.

Mayawati has reacted to your demand…

I respect Behenji (Mayawati). She is the chief of her party (BSP) and can speak whatever she wants to. What I demanded was my sentiment and I am not misleading anyone.

*The Dalit votes in UP, which the BJP managed to get in the 2014 and 2019 Lok Sabha polls, seem to have shifted to the SP-Congress alliance in the 2024 polls. Why do you think this happened?

I have been in politics for over 25 years. The Jatav community never voted for the SP. However, this time, the INDIA bloc created a false propaganda that the BJP would change the Constitution and end reservations. This damaged the BJP’s prospects.

Why did the BJP fail to counter this “propaganda” in time?

Elections were just round the corner. The Congress made several false promises too.

*The recent polls saw new Dalit politics, where the community seemed to have shunned the BJP and BSP. We also saw the emergence of Chandrashekhar Aazad, who won the Nagina seat. Akash Anand has now been reinstated in the BSP. How do you think these changes will impact the BJP?

The emergence of Aazad and Anand is not going to have any impact on the BJP. In the past two Assembly polls, the Dalits have firmly backed the BJP. The party won all six segments falling under my Lok Sabha seat. I am not aware of developments and new equations in other areas but they are behind the BJP here (Shahjahanpur). Also, those who moved away from the BJP will come back as they have realised their mistake of voting for the SP-Congress combine. They have a guilt and will surely return.