In a bid to reposition itself as a broader social coalition beyond its OBC stronghold, the Samajwadi Party is preparing to host the first national convention of its Dalit wing, Baba Saheb Ambedkar Vahini, on July 27 in Lucknow. The move signals the party’s intensified effort to institutionalise Dalit outreach, three years after it formally launched the Vahini on Ambedkar Jayanti in 2021.
With the Bahujan Samaj Party struggling to retain its traditional base and new Dalit voices emerging in regional pockets, SP appears to be stepping into the vacuum to shape a renewed caste alliance in Uttar Pradesh politics.
The national convention, expected to draw around 400 to 500 participants from various states, marks a significant milestone for the frontal organisation. Launched nearly three decades after SP’s inception in 1992, the Vahini was envisioned as a cadre-building platform focused on Dalit mobilisation.
“Our first national convention is being held in Lucknow and will be addressed by Baba Saheb Ambedkar Vahini National president Mithai Lal Bharti,” general secretary Ram Babu Sudarshan said. “The agenda includes highlighting atrocities against Dalits under BJP rule, dilution of reservation in outsourcing, and the recent attack on Dalit MP Ramji Lal Suman allegedly by BJP-backed elements.”
The political context behind this mobilisation is rooted in the declining influence of Mayawati-led BSP, once the primary choice for Dalit voters in Uttar Pradesh. Since 2017, the party has seen repeated electoral setbacks, leaving its core Jatav vote bank, over 50% of UP’s Dalit population, searching for political alternatives.
{{/usCountry}}The political context behind this mobilisation is rooted in the declining influence of Mayawati-led BSP, once the primary choice for Dalit voters in Uttar Pradesh. Since 2017, the party has seen repeated electoral setbacks, leaving its core Jatav vote bank, over 50% of UP’s Dalit population, searching for political alternatives.
{{/usCountry}}The BSP’s vote share and seat tally have consistently declined in successive elections. In the UP assembly polls, it secured 25.95% votes and 80 seats in 2012, dropped to 22.23% and 19 seats in 2017, and further slid to 12.88% with just one seat in 2022. In Lok Sabha polls, BSP won 19 seats with 24.67% votes in 2004, 20 seats with 27.42% in 2009, drew a blank in 2014 with 19.77%, and won 10 seats in 2019 with 19.42% votes in alliance with SP.
Not just SP but Dalits also looking for alternative: Expert
“SP’s Dalit push is not happening in isolation. A section of the Dalit community, especially Jatavs, is also re-evaluating its options,” Prashant Trivedi, associate professor at the Giri Institute of Development Studies, said. “This trend gained traction after SP and BSP joined hands in 2019. Even after the alliance ended, SP leaders, including Akhilesh Yadav, avoided personal attacks on Mayawati, which struck a chord.”
“The SP-Congress alliance in 2024 blurred earlier lines between Jatavs and SP. Congress, before the rise of BSP, was the Dalits’ traditional party. That memory has resurfaced in the new alignment,” he added.
“I can feel that UP politics is now going towards the Bihar Model where Dalits and Backwards are uniting under one umbrella.”
SP’s evolving strategy
SP’s Dalit engagement has evolved from symbolic gestures to structural integration. During the 2019 elections, the party began observing the anniversaries of BR Ambedkar and Kanshi Ram and installed Ambedkar’s bust beside Ram Manohar Lohia’s statue at the party headquarters.
The formation of the Ambedkar Vahini in 2021 marked a more formalised outreach. That year, SP encouraged workers to celebrate Ambedkar Jayanti as ‘Dalit Diwali.’
Earlier this year, the SP organised a week-long ‘Swabhiman Swaman Samaroh’ to celebrate Ambedkar Jayanti across state units, in collaboration with the Samajwadi Scheduled Caste Front. A bronze statue of Ambedkar in a seated posture, similar to those seen in BSP offices, was also unveiled by SP chief Akhilesh Yadav in Etawah.
Several prominent leaders from BSP have since joined SP, including Afzal Ansari, RK Chaudhary, Mithailal Bharti, and Ram Prasad Chaudhari, indicating a growing pipeline of Dalit leadership within SP ranks.
PDA formula gains traction
Central to SP’s social strategy is its ‘PDA’ (Pichda, Dalit, Alpsankhyak) formula, designed to consolidate backward castes, Dalits, and minorities under a single umbrella. The success of this strategy was visible in the 2024 general elections, where SP alone bagged 37 seats, its best performance in a decade.
Now, the party is looking to deepen this alliance further. The event is being seen as not just a symbolic gathering but a move towards building organisational strength and visibility for Dalit leaders within the SP framework.