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Journalism of Courage
THE CONTROVERSY might have begun with a statement by Bihar Education Minister Chandra Shekhar. But long after it settled there, the row over Ramcharitmanas is playing out in interesting ways in battleground Uttar Pradesh.
Far from being defensive (as many expected) over remarks by its leader Swami Prasad Maurya questioning portions of Tulsidas’s composition, for its remarks on castes, the Samajwadi Party is using the row to project itself as a party with the interests of the Most Backward Classes (MBCs) at heart.
At two recent instances, days apart, SP chief Akhilesh Yadav pointedly attacked the BJP for treating the backward classes – including OBCs like himself and Dalits – as “Shudras”. On Sunday, in another significant message, Maurya, a BSP-turned-BJP-turned-SP leader, was promoted to SP national general secretary. On Monday, Akhilesh again backed Maurya, asking UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath about the meaning of “tadan” – punishment – in the verse referred to by his party colleague.
Even SP leaders admitted they were surprised, expecting Maurya to emerge from a meeting with Akhilesh on Saturday, with a rap on the knuckles. Several upper caste leaders of the SP, such as Brahmins and Thakurs, had even voiced unhappiness over Maurya’s remarks and made it clear that they expected action against him.
With the BJP wooing non-Yadav OBCs and the Dalits seen as bereft and up for grabs due to the BSP’s falling fortunes, the SP sees a good chance to add the MBCs to its vote bank, which now includes Muslims and Yadavs. With Tulsidas a Brahmin, the SP’s campaign is centred around Ramcharitmanas’s chaupais related to lower castes like Kalwar, Bheel, Kol, Teli and Kumhar.
In 2007, the BSP’s astonishing majority to form the government was attributed to its success in adding the support of OBCs and Muslims to its core Dalit vote bank. In 2012, the SP was successful in expanding its support base and coming to power. The BJP’s successive wins in the 2014 and 2019 Lok Sabha elections, as well as the 2017 Assembly polls, followed its success in convincing OBCs and Dalits to accept the larger Hindu umbrella, along with the upper castes.
The BJP was helped to an extent by its alliance with Om Prakash Rajbhar, a prominent leader among the MBCs in eastern UP, who fought with it in 2017. While Rajbhar moved to the SP camp before the 2022 Assembly polls, he has again started leaning towards the BJP and has been at the forefront in attacking Maurya’s remarks.
By putting its weight behind Maurya, the SP is also adding to his muscle as a leader who can counter Rajbhar as a prominent MBC voice, also from eastern UP.
That the BJP is rattled by Akhilesh’s swift turning of the tables in the Ramcharitmanas row is evident from the sharpness of its attacks on the SP chief. It called the remarks on Tulsidas’s work “an attack on Hindu sentiments” and compared Akhilesh with Mahmud Ghazni and Muhammad Ghori. Two FIRs have been lodged in Lucknow by BJP workers against Maurya for his remarks on Ramcharitmanas.
The BJP has now wielded its OBC leaders Keshav Prasad Maurya (the Deputy Chief Minister) and Bhupendra Singh Chaudhary (its state chief) to attack Swami Prasad Maurya and the SP on the issue.
After his hour-long meeting with Maurya in Lucknow, Akhilesh said he had called the senior leader only to talk to him about leading a campaign for a caste census – dropping another hot potato in the mix.
While the BJP government at the Centre has been reluctant to conduct such a census, the demand also puts the SBSP’s Rajbhar in a spot as he too has been seeking a caste census.
The first time Akhilesh sought to make the fight personal was when he visited a temple in Lucknow on Saturday and was shown black flags by activists of Hindutva outfits. “The BJP considers Backwards and Dalits as Shudras. They consider us Shudra,” he said.
On Monday, he said the BJP was against both OBCs and Dalits, and that was why it opposed a caste census. “The BJP does not want to give rights and respects to Backwards, Dalits and the oppressed sections. We will raise the issue of caste census in the House,” Akhilesh said in a statement.
An SP insider admitted that the statements and actions were part of a deliberate plan.
As per a source, the SP took its cues from its loss to the BJP in the bypolls in its bastions of Azamgarh and Rampur last year. “The SP is alert to the fact that all Muslims did not support it. With his stand on Maurya’s remark on Ramchairmanas, Akhilesh hopes to appeal to Muslims as well as those Dalits and OBCs who do not feel comfortable with upper castes.”
The source adds that the SP is trying to gain as much ground as possible before the opening of the Ram temple in Ayodhya, expected at the end of this year. Given the BJP’s expected campaign around the same, the Dalit and OBC votes are unlikely to remain unaffected.
A BJP leader acknowledged Akhilesh’s experiments, but said that far from paying off, these would backfire. “Ramayan and Ramcharitmanas are found in the home of every aastik (believer) Hindu family. Dalits and OBCs too are Hindus and both the holy books are respected by them too,” the leader said.
Besides, the leader added, the BJP was always one step ahead of its rivals on such matters. “In January last year, the BJP suspended its spokesperson Nupur Sharma and expelled its Delhi media head Naveen Kumar Jindal soon after their alleged controversial remarks on Prophet Mohammad, which had triggered protests. The BJP took action as it respects all religions. But the SP has rewarded Maurya for insulting a holy book of Hindus,” the leader said, adding that the BJP was preparing a counter to Maurya by digging out old videos of his criticising the BSP and SP.
