Mission BSP: Punjab & Uttarakhand

Amitabh Shukla / Chandigarh

Bahujan Samaj Party may be a force to reckon with in the poll bound state of Uttar Pradesh and to some extent in Uttarakhand, but in Punjab - the state where it was founded and showed initial promise - the party has been pushed to the fringe as a marginal political player.

Party chief and UP chief minister Mayawati launched the campaign of the party in a whirlwind tour of the state for two days and reminded her core vote bank that Kanshi Ram, the “Manyavar” in BSP lexicon, hailed from the state and they had to ensure that the dreams of the party’s founder of forming government in the state was fulfilled in the 2012 polls.

Not even the hardcore BSP supporters would take the call seriously given the present strength of the party in the state, its dwindling support base and its lack of focus in reviving the party. Moreover, in her speeches in Punjab, party supremo Mayawati continued to highlight what her party had done in UP rather than on what it intends to do in the state and what was its agenda and policies.

But it was Mayawati who deliberately kept away from Punjab and concentrated in her home state of UP, instead of the home state Kanshi Ram despite the fact that Punjab had all the classic ingredients for the success of a dalit-centric party. With a dalit population of 30-31 per cent, unlike UP’s 17-18 per cent, BSP could have politically done much better in the state if normal sociological factors came into play. It was not to be as Punjab is historically and sociologically different from the Hindi heartland and there was no attempt ever for consolidation of the dalit vote base after Kanshi Ram gave the reins of the party to his disciple, Mayawati.

Thanks to the neglect of the central leadership, the party has not won any seat since the 1997 polls even though its vote share was 4.13 per cent in the 2007 polls and 5.69 per cent in the 2002 polls. Even in Doaba region, where the Scheduled Caste population is as high as 37 per cent, the party has failed to impress electorally. The last time, the party did well was in the 1992 polls which Akalis had boycotted amid militant activities in the state.

After a brief honeymoon with the BSP, Dalits in Punjab have expressed themselves politically through the two main parties – Congress and the Akali Dal. But it has been the Congress which has had an upper hand on the dalit votes. Akali Dal is seen by a section of the dalits as a party which has the dominance of Jat Sikhs, with whom this section has come into conflict in the rural areas occasionally.

Moreover, political observers here say that dalits are a divided lot in Punjab unlike other states and it would be wrong to see them as a homogenous group with the same voting preferences of all. They are divided in as many as 37 various sub-castes and groups along with division on religions lines – Sikhs and Hindus. They are also divided in numerous deras, some of them influential, which came into conflict with the hardliners in the last two decades. Also dalits here did not face the kind of social milieu of discrimination which exists in Hindi heartland of UP and Bihar and are relatively prosperous with a fair say in economy and politics of the state.

In fact, the word “Chamar” may be termed derogatory elsewhere, but an organisation calling itself the “Chamar Mahasabha” exists with considerable influence amongst the dalits here. They have come out with a slogan which says “proud to be a chamar”. P. S. Kainth, President of the Mahasabha, said that his organization was weighing its options and its supporters would vote for the party which would work for the dalit issues.

BSP leaders now say that they are aiming to arrest the slide of the party in the 2012 polls and the back to back rallies of Mayawati has helped their cause. They point out that despite a busy schedule, the UP chief minister found time to come to Punjab and this will help consolidate the dalits. Mayawati last had a rally cum workshop in state Capital Chandigarh in May last year to prepare the ground for Punjab elections.

It may be a travesty but in the 2012 elections, the fortunes of BSP is closely linked with that of the performance of SAD-BJP alliance. If the BSP does even slightly well, it will be the SAD-BJP alliance which will benefit. Congress and BSP have a common vote bank in the state and if Mayawati’s party does well and improves upon 4.13 per cent which it got in the 2007 polls, there would be erosion in Congress vote share.

In the run up to the polls, BSP spurned offers from Sanjha Morcha led by Manpreet Badal of People’s Party of Punjab, deciding to go it alone – a policy which it has been following in Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand as well. (24.1.2012)

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