By Dr. Gyan Pathak
Delhi has 12 Vidhan Sabha seats reserved for Scheduled Caste, and BJP has been able to win 4 of them in the recently concluded election after a decade. Since 8 Vidhan Sabha seats have been won by AAP, the BJP is aware of the danger it may face on account of Dalit politics in the state, since Delhi has about 16 per cent of Dalit votes. Moreover, BJP has won Delhi with a very small margin of 1.99 per cent of votes, which has compelled them not to take rest, though it has won Delhi Election with comfortable majority. Dalit votes have proved crucial in Delhi, and hence Lieutenant Governor has declared Sant Ravidas Jayanti a Holiday on February 12, 2025, which is a shift from earlier practice of observing it as “Restricted Holiday”, signalling that the BJP’s political machine has no rest, and has been reset to work on Dalit Politics now across the country.
Declaring Sant Ravidas Jayanti a Holiday in Delhi is an act of goodwill gesture with a political objective of attracting Dalit communities across the country, particularly in those states where Sant Ravidas has considerable followers – which included Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Punjab and Haryana. Among these states Bihar is going to have polls later in 2025, where Dalit population, as per the latest caste census of 2022, is around 20 per cent.
In the recent months, Dalit politics has been in the centrestage, and the two national political rivals – the Congress and the BJP – have been posturing in the name of Dr B R Ambedkar to attract Dalit votes. The Congress has been trying to regain its lost Dalit support base that had shifted away from the party to other political parties, chief beneficiary among them was Bahujan Samaj Party, especially in Uttar Pradesh, the state which will be going to polls in 2027. Uttar Pradesh has Dalit population of 21.5 per cent.
Punjab is also going to polls in 2027, where Dalit population is 32 per cent. AAP is ruling the state, and Dalits are by and large with AAP. It is worth noting that BJP has little support base among Dalits in Punjab, and the Congress has already lost its support base among Dalits.
Sant Ravidas has special significance in Punjab, since Sikh’s scripture Guru Granth Sahib has included many devotional verses of Sant Ravidas who was himself a Dalit and a great social reformer. Sant Ravidas has been the central figure within the Ravidassia religious movement of Punjab, which was generally considered a sect within Sikhs until 2009, but now many among them believe Ravidasi as separate sect, both within Sikh and Hindu communities.
The Panch Vani text of Dadu Panthi tradition of Rajasthan have also included many devotional verses. Dalit population in Rajasthan is about 18 per cent. Recent election is Rajasthan, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Haryana and Maharashtra elections have also given signals that Dalit votes have propensity of aligning with BJP now, since they have already almost deserted the Congress, and there are no other political party strong enough to align with.
As for Punjab, Dalit votes had shifted earlier from Congress to Akalis, and then have shifted to AAP, the 2022 Vidhan Sabha election result indicate. It is very crucial for the BJP to win over them. It can be done on the name of Sant Ravidas, the BJP leadership believe.
Though Uttar Pradesh election would also be held in 2027, the importance of the state makes the BJP political machine running, since Lok Sabha election 2024 has clearly shown that BJP has been losing its support base among OBCs and Dalits. Samajwadi Party led by Akhilesh Yadav’s political slogan ‘DPA’ – Dalits, Pichhra (OBC), and Alpasankhyak (Minority) – has been popular. Since Mayawati led BSP has been losing support base among Dalits, and many of them already shifted and likely to shift towards Samajwadi Party further, BJP can’t afford to rest. BJP has to work to win over Dalit support base in the state to avoid defeat.
Only one State Bihar is scheduled to have election in 2025 towards the end of the year. BJP has considerable support base among Dalits due to its political strategic alliance with LJP (RV) led by Chirag Paswan the son of very influential Dalit leader Ram Vilas Paswan. Dalit votes in the states are not unitedly in support of any political party or alliance, as the 2020 Vidhan Sabah election as also 2024 Lok Sabha election results suggest. They have a propensity to support any political party who can take their interest protected. With about 20 per cent of population, Dalits are strong vote bank in the state.
By declaring Sant Ravidas Jayanti as Holiday in Delhi, BJP has just taken a step into Dalit politics in the country, the immediate focus being in Bihar, Punjab, and Uttar Pradesh, while it would be continuing to show themselves championing the cause of Dalits by reiterating the name of Dr B R Ambedkar. Even PM Modi has alleged how Congress has been against Ambedkar’s legacy. The party would try its best to take benefit of weakening of BSP and Congress support bases among Dalits. (IPA service)
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