After taking oath as a Lok Sabha member, first-time Samajwadi Party (SP) MP R K Chaudhary, from the Mohanlalganj (SC-reserved) seat in Uttar Pradesh, sent a letter to the Speaker demanding that the Sengol sceptre be replaced with a giant replica of the Constitution. One of the founder members of the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), Chaudhary was a close associate of Kanshi Ram and served as a state minister five times. He was expelled from the BSP in 2001 but taken back in 2013 to attract the Pasi vote. Chaudhary quit the BSP in 2016 and joined the SP the following year. He contested the 2019 Lok Sabha elections on a Congress ticket after the SP-BSP alliance denied him a ticket. In 2021, he rejoined the SP. He speaks to The Indian Express on his demand to remove the Sengol and Dalit politics in UP. Excerpts: Why the sudden demand for replacing Sengol with a replica of the Constitution? India is a democratic country. The BJP and RSS are working to take it back to the period of raje-rajwade (royalty). They want the country to be run by the Manusmriti instead of the Constitution. They don't accept Babasaheb Ambedkar’s Constitution as their own. They take Manusmriti as their Constitution. Sengol is a Tamil word. There was a Chola king in Tamil Nadu who declared himself God. When the country gained Independence, priests there suggested that a symbol of rajtantra (monarchy) be given by Lord Mountbatten (last Viceroy of India) to the new Prime Minister. Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru received the Sengol and placed it in an Allahabad museum with honour. India is a democracy, where Ambedkar’s Constitution is in effect. But the Sengol has been installed to dilute the Constitution's significance. The BJP called your demand an attempt to insult Tamil culture. Periyar was from there. His followers don’t recognise the Sengol. They believe only in the Constitution. I have spoken to several Tamil MPs in the House and they praised my stand. A former Lucknow University professor congratulated me on this. Why did other MPs of your party refuse to speak on the issue? Although the issue was suppressed, it is a big issue. So everyone is being careful about what to say. Also, many do not know much about Sengol. I will speak to my leaders on this issue. How do you see the UP Lok Sabha results? Akhilesh Yadav has matured and has a clear vision. He was the one who coined the ‘PDA (Pichhda, Dalit, Alpsankhyak)’ slogan. Akhilesh has formed the same social coalition that was earlier created by Kanshi Ram, who formed the DS4 (Dalit Shoshit Samaj Sangharsh Samiti), whose scope was later extended to the DPA (Dalit, Pichhda, Alpsankhyak; or Dalits, Backwards, Minorities). We used to call that the Bahujan Samaj. Akhilesh has formed the PDA, which covers the same section of society. During Kanshi Ram's time, we used to raise the slogan ‘Jo Bahujan ki baat karega, woh Delhi se raaj karega (Whoever speaks for the Bahujan, will rule from Delhi)’. Since PDA is the same as Bahujan, the new slogan is ‘Jo PDA ki baat karega, woh desh pe raaj karega (Whover speaks of the PDA, will rule the country)’. Another slogan that has been changed is: ‘Baba tera mission adhura, Kanshi Ram karenge pura (Babasaheb Ambedkar your mission is unfinished, Kanshi Ram will complete it).’ Now Kanshi Ram is no more but people have again started raising the slogan: ‘Baba tera mission adhura, Akhilesh Yadav karenge pura (Babasaheb, Akhilesh Yadav will complete your mission).’ Has the SP reviewed what went wrong in the seats it lost? The SP has won more seats in UP than the BJP. This is just the beginning. We have become the number one party in UP. In the future, we will be the number one party in the country. This election saw a change in UP’s Dalit politics. The BSP lost, Dalit votes shifted from the NDA to INDIA, and Chandrashekhar Azad won in Nagina. Reflections? We are overwhelmed that the BSP’s voter base shifted to the SP even without any appeal from our side. We did not think they would vote for us. But they contacted our workers and extended their support. For example, in Lucknow, several BSP workers supported us. A Dalit leader very close to Mayawati contacted me twice during the elections to say that he had deputed workers in my support. Behenji’s (Mayawati) actions don't follow Ambedkarite or Kanshi Ram's ideology. I hold her in regard. But she said Kanshi Ram made her his heir. The social movement that the BSP represents can't be registered to someone's name. After B R Ambedkar, no one from his team became his heir. Years later, Kanshi Ram rejuvenated the movement with his hard work and struggle. Nobody can become Kanshi Ram’s heir even if he declared one. I don’t know who will take the lead in the future. Whoever does the work will emerge as the leader. You were a founding member of the BSP. Why has the party declined? There is a popular saying in eastern UP: ‘Jahan jahan paaon pada santan ke, tahan tahan bantadhar (there are some people who ruin whatever they touch)’. Such people entered the BSP and ruined everything. I will not take their name. Inducting such leaders caused the party’s downfall. The BJP says the SP-Congress misled Dalits and OBCs with propaganda on the issues of reservation and the Constitution. The BJP’s allegation is baseless … This is just the beginning, I will try to see to it that the SP takes the lead on the issue of protecting the Constitution, democracy, and reservation of OBCs and Dalits. It should also be ensured that participation is as per population share … The oppressed sections should get the opportunity to live with equality.
