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After four phases of polling in Uttar Pradesh, BSP supremo Mayawati’s bold move to accept a pre-poll alliance with arch rival Samajwadi Party (SP), appears to be working smoothly. Reports from the ground suggest that the BSP’s core support base of Jatavs has collaborated surprisingly well with the SP’s Yadavs, who were not so long ago seen as oppressors.
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In her long roller-coaster ride through the byzantine lanes of Uttar Pradesh politics over the decades, Behenji had steadfastly turned her back on pre-poll alliances, in the belief that it would diminish – not amplify – her party’s prospects.
Mayawati also seems increasingly comfortable with the unfamiliar task of a joint poll campaign with another party leader, and that too with a former political foe. This is evident from the body language shared by her and SP president Akhilesh Yadav at joint rallies, which are increasing in number, beyond what was originally planned.
“This is an alliance driven by people themselves, which the gathbandhan leaders carried forward by the momentum from below,” asserted Ramesh Dixit, a veteran observer of UP elections, who also heads the state unit of the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP).
“It is the Dalit community in the state that is pushing Behenji, and not the other way ‘round. There was tremendous pressure from BSP supporters that the party join hands with all those opposed to the BJP, and at least for the moment, past bitterness with the Yadavs and the Jats do not matter. I can promise you that Dalits will be voting for Mayawati in much larger numbers this time than ever before, and she is well aware of that,” said Dalit activist Ram Kumar, who is the founder of the Dynamic Action Group, one of the most prominent Dalit NGOs in Uttar Pradesh.
The Samajwadi Party supporters also admit that had there not been a concerted demand from their two main support groups – Yadavs and Muslims – for an alliance with the Jatavs, it would have been difficult for their leader, Akhilesh, to make the gathbandhan work. Memorable scenes at the recent joint rally of Mulayam Singh Yadav and Mayawati at Mainpuri – where the Yadav patriarch asked his followers to touch the feet of the Dalit leader – underline the incredible change in social dynamics in the state, and their fallout on political equations.
There are several reasons that have brought disparate social groups together and make the gathbandhan a feasible electoral combine that has upset the BJP’s plan to polarise the elections between Hindus and Muslims.
Bitterness among Jatavs over Yadav atrocities – when the Samajwadi Party was in power in the state just a few years ago – have been largely diffused, not only because of Akhilesh treating Mayawati with deference, but also concerted attempts for a rapprochement on the ground. “There is a big difference from the past in the relationship between the two communities, after Yadav supporters of the Samajwadi Party have been going around Jatav urban colonies and village clusters with folded hands, asking for bhaichara,” said Ram Kumar.
This, along with resentment about other recent tinkering by the higher courts diluting reservations in government-run educational institutions and departments, has led to anger and alienation with the political establishment – not only among Jatavs, but also other Dalit communities like Pasis and Valmikis, who have traditionally leaned towards the BJP.
“There has been a systematic attempt by the Adityanath state government (since it was elected two years ago), to remove Yadavs and other backward castes, from key posts in the civil administration and police. So it is not surprising that they are joining hands with other marginalised communities like the Muslims and Dalits. “The ‘real face’ of Hindutva has been exposed as an upper-caste project,” remarked Athar Siddiqi, who runs the Centre of Objective Research and Development in Lucknow, and is an ardent campaigner for the Samajwadi Party.
The fiercest support comes from the large Muslim minority in Uttar Pradesh, who form the bulwark of the gathbandhan. Terrorised by the Hindutva politics of the Centre and state, the Muslims are likely to vote – perhaps for the first time – tactically in one direction. They, while leaning towards the Samjajwadi Party, have also tended to vote in good numbers for other parties like BSP and Congress in previous elections.
However, reports from the constituency suggest that he has been relegated to a poor third position, with the support of Muslims and Jatavs consolidating behind the gathbandhan candidate. Similarly, Raj Babbar of the Congress was asked by Muslim leaders to shift from his traditional Moradabad constituency – where there is a strong gathbandhan candidate – to Fatehpur Sikri, where there is a weaker one.
There is little doubt that the real challenge to the BJP election machine – led by the Prime Minister himself and fueled by enormous financial resources and administrative clout in UP – is between this less-than-six -month-old alliance, driven by people and not leaders.
(The writer is a Delhi-based senior journalist and the author of ‘Behenji: A Political Biography of Mayawati’. This is an opinion piece. The views expressed above are the author’s own. The Quint neither endorses nor is responsible for the same.)
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Published: 03 May 2019,08:02 PM IST