SP will not get 100% benefit of defection from BJP, even BJP is not in loss

 

The politicisation of backward and dalit castes is a unique phenomenon of our democratic system. This shows that the basis of democracy is widening, deepening, and, above all, a political elite is emerging even in these relatively disadvantaged societies due to their proximity to power. The latest political developments in Uttar Pradesh have given us an opportunity to assess this process afresh.

Leaders belonging to non-Yadav backward castes (Rajbhar, Maurya, Kushwaha, Saini, Shakya, Bind, Nonia-Chauhan, Lodhi, Mallah, Gadaria, etc.) who left the electoral arena of social justice politics in the 2017 elections and joined the BJP have left the party just before the elections. The prevalent way of reading this incident is how it will benefit the BJP and the SP in terms of votes.

But, looking beyond this understanding, this development can be heard saying something else. The defection has caused uneasiness in the BJP, and its strategists are busy fixing their nails. It's definitely an instant shock. But, it's also an opportunity. Now the BJP has a chance to test the efficacy of its political elements in these non-Yadav fraternities that it had been systematically developing during the last five years.

These new elements speak a different language from leaders like Swami Prasad Maurya, Dara Singh Chauhan, Dharam Singh Saini. The leaders who left the BJP were initiated in a political school that was commanded by ambedkarite and Bahujan goal-making leaders like Kanshi Ram, strategists. These people have been politicians in the vocabulary of caste-struggle, caste-break and social revolution. On the contrary, the leadership developed by the BJP adopts a different style of communication with its caste brothers.

The BJP took electoral advantage of the old political representatives of the non-Yadav castes, but neither the BJP had faith in them, nor did these leaders trust the BJP. The experienced eyes of these leaders were seeing that the BJP was trying to create a leadership that challenged them within their fraternities. Wherever and whenever the opportunity arose, the BJP undertook a series of encouraging the people, who were ideologically embedded in the Ideology of Hindutva, by a rajya sabha membership, by making office-bearers in the organisation, by giving them a place in the Union Cabinet.

People know the name of Om Prakash Rajbhar, but do not know the name of the Rajbhar who has been taken out of the queues of the Sangh and taken to the Rajya Sabha. Similarly, people do not even know Geeta Shakya who has been made a member of the Rajya Sabha. Since Baby Rani Maurya had left the post of Governor and jumped into the electoral fray, people are familiar with her name. In fact, the number of such 'Sanghi backwards' is just going to come out slowly.

The BJP is confident that it will be able to get the votes of some of the non-Yadav backwards through these new Hindutva elements. In fact, this election in UP is the real test of Hindutva ideology. The election results will show how much the new elements that the Sangh Parivar has prepared are of political use. In 2017, the BJP had held a roundabout in UP on the basis of slogans like 'Sab Jaat vs Teen Jaat'.

It was a new and more comprehensive version of 2017 of the Kalyan Singh style of social engineering carried out by the BJP in 1991. As a result, the most backward castes, non-Yadav OBC castes and non-Jatav Dalits were pitted against the three communities (Jatavs, Yadavs and Muslims) that were leaning towards the BSP, SP, Congress respectively. Going beyond its Brahmin-Baniya-Thakur image, the BJP succeeded in forging a broad social alliance of the poor and the backward.

It gave 119 seats to non-Yadav castes like The Rajbhars, Kushwahas, Mauryas. The small suheldev of the Rajbhars, in alliance with the Bharatiya Samaj Party, gave it 8 seats. The BJP gave 69 tickets to non-Jatav Dalits. At the same time, the BJP, under a well-thought-out plan, gave a strategic silence to the upper castes of UP (the propaganda of the Sangh volunteers among the dwijas was to vote in their hearts, exercise restraint on your speech).

In three parts of the state (lower Doab, Awadh and eastern Uttar Pradesh), the BJP showed The Yadavs as goons and oppressors to find votes against them of upper castes and the ultra-backwards and dalits deprived of the benefits of reservation. In 2015, the BJP's top command had taken a conscious decision that the party organisation in UP would have to come out of the Brahmin-Rajput-Bania shackles.

A decisive step to this effect was that the voting process for the appointment of the party's district presidents was done away with, and the emphasis was on consensus, so as to neutralize the networking of the upper castes occupying the post of district president.

On a closer look, we can observe that the most backward of UP are going to be divided into two parts in this election. One part will be rounded up under the old politics of social justice, and the other will be set by the Sangh Parivar under the politics of harmony its voting priorities. Neither the Samajwadi Party will get 100 per cent benefit of defection from the BJP nor will the BJP have to bear the 100 per cent loss.