Dalit society is looking for a new political place in UP, a big sign changing the trend

Lucknow: In the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, the Bahujan Samaj Party could not win a single seat in Uttar Pradesh. This was not only a big setback for Mayawati, but also became the topic of most discussion in the political corridors. It was also difficult to ignore it because all this happened because of the Modi wave. Even in the Modi wave, the Samajwadi Party was successful in winning 5 seats and the Congress 2 seats. The Bahujan Samaj Party’s result in the 2017 assembly elections was also very bad. The BSP could win only 19 out of 403 assembly seats. The question arose from here whether the Dalit community in Uttar Pradesh has found a new political place. Broadly speaking, Mayawati’s zero in the 2014 elections and the BJP and its allies winning 73 out of 80 seats shows that a part of the Dalit community’s vote has shifted from the BSP to the BJP. After the BSP was reduced to 19 seats in the 2017 elections, this thing started being said even more strongly. The Dalit vote is no longer in the Bahujan Samaj Party. But, Mayawati was never ready to accept this fact. He says that even though he did not get a single seat in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, he got 19 percent of the vote. This vote belonged to the Dalit community. The same was true for the 2017 election as well. In a way she was trying to say that Dalit is still with her. The votes of other castes are not getting.

what is the reality inside
Till the 90s, the Dalit vote in UP was the vote bank of the Congress. In the 90s, when the face of politics in the whole country changed, the Dalit community in UP got united with the Bahujan Samaj Party and became the biggest force of the BSP. There was a fight for the BSP ticket, because the candidates thought that they would get 20-21 percent of the votes on the BSP mark without any effort. You can win elections even after doing a little hard work for the votes of other castes. From above, the Dalit society seems to be one, but inside they are also divided. The Jatav caste is the largest part of the Dalit society, from which Mayawati herself comes. This caste has been completely associated with the Bahujan Samaj Party. But, the rest of the castes have not been a mobilizer for Mayawati to that extent. Because, his relationship with Jatav does not happen. On many occasions, they stand in other political circles. In the 2009 Lok Sabha elections, PL Punia, who was Mayawati’s principal secretary from Barabanki, was contesting on a Congress ticket. Barabanki is a reserved seat for the Scheduled Caste category. Mayawati had put all her strength that PL Punia could not win the election. But, he won. The reason was believed to be that the votes of the Pasi caste are more in that seat and they had allied with the Congress.

Is it a sign of big change?
The Modi wave that ran in the country since 2014, its effect has been seen in Uttar Pradesh as well. More Dalit community votes have started going in favor of BJP in UP. There has also been a split in the Jatav community, which is a warning bell for the Bahujan Samaj Party. In the election campaign of BSP in the 2022 elections, the heat is not visible as before. The reason is that there is no longer as much attraction for the BSP among the candidates as before. There is also a reason that the mobilization of Dalit voters for the BSP is not visible as before. However, the clarification from the BSP has come on several occasions that their voter is not vocal. is financially weak. Therefore, the BSP’s election campaign is looking less vulnerable to other parties.

Status of parties on SC seats Assembly Election 2017
Total Reserved Seats : 84 BJP : 71 Apna Dal(s) : 01 SBSP : 03 SP : 06 BSP : 01 Independent : 01

assembly election 2012
Total Reserved Seats : 85 SP : 59 BSP : 14 Congress : 04 BJP : 03 RLD : 03 Independent : 01

assembly election 2007
Total Reserved Seats : 89 BSP : 61 SP : 13 BJP : 07 Congress : 05 RLD : 01 RSP : 01 Independent : 01