Even PM Modi said the voters should grow beyond caste politics when he visited Uttar Pradesh but his trusted lieutenant, mit Shah, has been painstakingly meeting up with every caste and sub-caste group in the state in the run-up to the assembly election. Caste-based politics was so entrenched in India that the Supreme Court had to warn against election campaigns based on religion and caste loyalties.
Even prime minister Narendra Modi said the voters should grow beyond caste politics when he visited Uttar Pradesh but his trusted lieutenant, BJP president Amit Shah, has been painstakingly meeting up with every caste and sub-caste group in the state in the run-up to the assembly election.
Uttar Pradesh politics is intertwined with the caste matrix of the state. Every party in the state has built its support base on caste groups. The Samajwadi Party, the Bahujan Samaj Party and the BJP have no existence beyond their appeals to certain religious and caste groups. Even the Congress is not free from the pressures of caste politics.
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The Bahujan Samaj Party, which has the dalits as its core constituency, roped in candidates from all castes and even declared their castes while releasing the list of candidates. The dalitbahujan party ended up distributing more seats to the higher castes.
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The Bahujan Samaj Party has only 87 candidates from dalits, just two seats more than the minimum requirement to abide by the reservation rule. Uttar Pradesh has reserved 85 assembly seats for the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes.
The party picked 66 Brahmins and 36 Thakurs to contest the elections.
Uttar Pradesh's dominant castes including Yadavs and Jadavs assure their political masters unchallenged loyalty. The Muslims, however, side with either the Samajwadi Party or the Bahujan Samaj Party in their great distrust of the BJP. Even the Congress can hope to garner a share of this vote bank. Muslim leaders tend to counsel their community members to use prudence and vote for the non-BJP candidate who has a greater chance to win.
Other Backward Classes form 44 percent of Uttar Pradesh voters. Dalits make up 21 percent and Muslims 19 percent. Forward castes form 16 percent.
The Yadavs, who have a lead among the Other Backward Classes with sheer numbers and higher social conditions, form the backbone of the Samajwadi Party. A third of the Other Backward Classes are Yadavs. The rest of the group is composed of smaller classes and castes including Jats and Kurmis. Jadavs, another prominent caste in the OBC group, have aligned with Mayawati but that has not saved her from drawing a blank in the previous Lok Sabha election.
Insurance policy without a premium
Socialist pioneer Ram Manohar Lohia nailed it when he compared caste-based politics to an insurance policy. Caste-based politics was like an insurance policy except that you do not have to pay a premium, he had said. Appease the castes and you were sure to get a good return.
BJP president Amit Shah does not mind paying a premium though. All he is concerned about is the returns. He would not have focused so much even in his home state Gujarat, his opponents vouch.
Shah has spent most of his time last year in Uttar Pradesh. He took Modi to the state multiple times to address huge rallies. Modi had addressed four 'parivartan rallies' in the state even before the elections were notified.
Shah has a model to emulate: The strategy employed by the BJP and Janata Dal (U) in Bihar in 2005 to trounce Lalu Prasad’s Rashtriya Janata Dal. The combine was successful in drawing support from non-Yadav OBCs and foreward castes.
Shah has invited almost all small castes in Uttar Pradesh to talk. He has not ignored any groups even if they were numerically small. He roped in the leaders of many groups by appeasing them. Union minister Anupriya Patel, the daughter of Kurmi leader Sonelal Patel, has been entrusted with the duty of bringing in the community that includes Vermas and Patels to the BJP fold. She spends most of her time in Uttar Pradesh.
Kurmis and Koeris have a decisive presence in eastern Uttar Pradesh. BJP state president Keshav Prasad Maurya comes from this group. Mulayam Singh Yadav made Kurmi strongman Beni Prasad Verma a Rajya Sabha MP after he realized that Yadav votes alone would not win him elections.
Even chief minister Akhilesh Yadav proved he was adept at realpolitik by adding 17 Other Backward Classes into Scheduled Castes.
The communal maze
Uttar Pradesh’s numerous castes ring no bell in most other states. Many of them are too small to be taken seriously but they do matter when elections are closely contested. These small castes are being hijacked by leaders who convince the members that they stand for their welfare.
The outfit formed by bandit queen Phoolan Devi is a case in point. Eklavya Sena's many leaders have found vantage positions in almost all political parties, claiming to be true representatives of the community.
Uttar Pradesh defies many stereotypes. The famed Benaras silk is also woven by artisans from the Muslim community. PM Modi, who got himself elected from Varanasi aka Benaras, has announced a scheme for the welfare of the weavers and named it Ustad after the homegrown shehnai legend Bismilla Khan. Muslims make up about 30 percent of the ancient city.
The BJP has had a tightrope walk in Varanasi. The local sages are peeved with the central government over injunctions placed on the immersion of idols in the Ganga River. The police had to resort to lathicharge on the defiant ascetics. The issue had affected the chances of the BJP in the local polls but the party has succeeded in patching up with the sadhus.
Now, a section of the ascetics wants the party to make Yogi Adithyanath MP its chief minister candidate.
The caste matrix of Uttar Pradesh has become all the more relevant as the Samajwadi Party, the Bahujan Samaj Party and the BJP prepare for a three-way contest. Any party that can garner at least 35 percent of votes can easily stake claim to form a government.
When the Bahujan Samaj Party came to power in 2007, it had only won 30.4 percent votes. The BJP which won 42 percent votes in the 2014 Lok Sabha election could be a game changer this time.
The games castes play gets more and more interesting in this scenario.
(Concluded)
