Lucknow: On his Saturday visit to Agra, Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav blamed the Yogi Adityanath-led Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government for violence that erupted outside party MP Ramji Lal Suman’s residence following his statement about Rajput warrior king Rana Sanga.
Akhilesh dubbed Karni Sena as ‘Yogi Sena’ and alleged that the Uttar Pradesh government sponsored the attack on the Dalit MP’s house. “In the past, just like Hitler kept his Sena to shut down the voices, similarly, the Yogi Sena is doing at present time. The Yogi government is funding this Sena wherein people from the CM’s caste are planning such attacks,” the SP chief told the media.
Born as Ajay Mohan Singh Bisht, Yogi Adityanath is a Garwhali Rajput. The Karni Sena espouses the cause of the Kshatriyas, the caste to which the Rajputs belong. Last month, Suman had alleged that Mewar ruler Rana Sanga brought Mughal dynasty founder Babur to India to end the Lodhi rule.
Unidentified persons allegedly associated with the Karni Sena pelted stones, broke window panes and vandalised vehicles parked outside the Rajya Sabha MP’s house in Agra on 26 March. Earlier, a Hindu outfit leader in Aligarh had announced a bounty of Rs 25 lakh for anyone killing the Samajwadi Party MP for his disparaging remarks on Rana Sanga.
The attack, Akhilesh said, shows the chief minister’s hatred towards PDA, i.e., pichde (backward classes), Dalits, and alpsankhyak (minorities).
In recent times, the statements by Suman and earlier SP MLA Indrajeet Saroj have intensified the narrative of Dalit versus upper caste politics in Uttar Pradesh. Saroj had drawn anger with his statement that there would not have been invaders like Muhammad Ghori if temples had power. Like Suman, Saroj is also a Dalit lawmaker.
But, the SP is said to have decided to double down this strategy and decided to start a campaign across Uttar Pradesh to woo Dalits. In addition, its spokespersons were directed to take a ‘pro-Dalit’ stand during television debates on this issue.
The BJP, meanwhile, has alleged that Dalit leaders of the Samajwadi Party are making such controversial remarks on the behest of Akhilesh. “The kind of statements that SP leaders are giving, it is creating hatred in the society. We all know that they are giving such statements on the behest of party high command as their leadership cherishes Aurangzeb. The public also consider these statements as ‘anti-Hindu,’ Uttar Pradesh BJP spokesperson Avanish Tyagi told ThePrint.
Taking a cue from Akhilesh, the SP functionaries are now pushing the narrative of Rajputs versus Dalits and Other Backward Classes (OBCs) in Uttar Pradesh.
“Ever since the attack on Ramji Lal Suman’s house and then a viral video against our leader Akhilesh Yadav, the party has decided to raise the issue as ‘Rajputs versus lower castes’ in public meetings as the chief minister also belongs to the Rajput community. He (Yogi) has not criticised the attack on the Dalit MP’s house,” a senior SP functionary told ThePrint.
“The only way to counter BJP’s Hindutva agenda narrative is to turn it on caste lines. In 2024, the BJP faced a setback in UP because elections happened on the caste lines where a large number of Dalits and OBCs voted for the INDIA bloc. But the BJP learnt from its mistakes and focussed on the Hindutva narrative again as leaders like Adityanath gave ‘Batoge toh katoge’ statement. This controversy has given us an opportunity; we need to handle it strategically,” this functionary added.
This is not the first time that statements of SP leaders have hit the headlines. Much gefore the 2024 general elections, former minister Swami Prasad Maurya had raised questions on Ramcharitmanas in January 2023. Later, a case was registered against him in Lucknow.
Back then, Akhilesh went on to field Dalit candidates on unreserved seats like Faizabad (Awadhesh Prasad) and Meerut (Sunita Verma). Overall, the SP fielded 28 OBC and 14 Dalit candidates in UP. The party went on to win 37 seats in Uttar Pradesh.
Awadhesh Prasad himself created a record as he became the only Dalit candidate to win from a non-reserved constituency in UP. In a symbolic gesture, Akhilesh then seated the Faizabad MP next to him in the Lok Sabha, after Prasad wrested the Faizabad Lok Sabha constituency of which Ayodhya is a part from the BJP.
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The battle for crucial Dalits votes
As part of its Dalit outreach, the Samajwadi Party held a week-long event to mark Ambedkar Jayanti (14 April). Several former leaders of Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) including Indrajit Saroj and BSP co-founder Daddu Prasad have shifted their loyalties to the SP in the last few years.
In a related development, BSP chief Maywati has lashed out at its arch-rival Samajwadi Party for “misleading” Dalit leaders. The BSP supremo put up a series of posts on ‘X’ Sunday to warn the Dalits that the SP “can go to any extent” to get their votes.
“Like Congress, BJP etc., SP too, far from doing any real interest, welfare and upliftment of the Bahujans, especially the Dalits, by giving them their constitutional rights, has no sympathy/will to end their poverty, caste-based exploitation and injustice-atrocities etc., due to which they are far away from the mainstream,” she posted originally in Hindi.
“While the BSP has been successful to a great extent in its mission of eliminating the caste system here through its continuous efforts and creating an egalitarian society i.e. brotherhood in the entire society, SP is trying in every way to spoil it for the fulfillment of its narrow political interests. People must be cautious.”
The Dalits form 21.1 percent of the total population of Uttar Pradesh, according to the 2011 Census. The Jatavs and the Pasis are the two main chunks of the Dalit population in the northern state.
Samajwadi Party spokesperson Manoj Kaka asserted that the BJP itself created the controversy by highlighting statements of SP leaders. “This controversy will now badly affect BJP more as everyone knows that Karni Sena is close to their party. If they threaten our Dalit and OBC leaders, they are bringing public sentiments in our favour,” he told ThePrint.
“We have nothing against Behanji (Mayawati), but their cadre also knows that only the Samajwadi Party is raising the voice of Dalits under the banner of PDA. That is why most of the BSP leaders switched to the SP in the last few years.”
Akhilesh, political analyst Shilp Shikha Singh said, backing up his party leaders is a part of the strategy to woo Dalit vote bank. ”The SP chief understands that non-Yadav and Dalits votes are key to success in UP as together they comprise more than 50 percent of total votes. At a time when BSP is not able to woo this chunk much, the SP is seeing it as an opportunity. So, it is obvious that the party will take a stand for its Dalit leaders as they have to give a message to the party workers,” the assistant professor at Lucknow’s Giri Institute of Development Studies told ThePrint.
(Edited by Tony Rai)
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