Rajbhar : a new dalit force in eastern UP

The eastern UP on average has 18 per cent Rajbhars, most landless labourersChetan Chauhan, their share in population is as high as they are as many as 35 per cent, reports Chetan Chauhan.

Updated on: May 2, 2007, 01:33:20 IST

None | By Chetan Chauhan, Dawaria/Ballia

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Rajender Rajbhar, a high school pass-out, cheers while carrying the symbol of his new caste identity -- a triangular yellow flag of Sahuldev Bharatiya Samaj Party (SBSP)--- on a dusty road leading to Mahil, a Rajbhar dominated village in Dawaria district. But, the senior patriarchs in his village are slightly subdued as they are unsure about electoral fortunes of SBSP, contesting about 250 seats in eastern UP.

They, however, agree that Om Prakash Rajbhar, leader of the party formed in 2002, is here to make a mark on UP politics. The eastern UP on average has 18 per cent Rajbhars, most landless labourers, and in some assembly segments like Sehar and Selampur in Ballia district, their share in population is as high as they are as many as 35 per cent. “In 30-50 constituencies if Rajbhars decide to vote for one candidate electoral results can tilt one way,” said Hardeo Ram, former MLA and a local dalit leader. His estimates are based on credible performance of the SBSP in last Lok Sabha
polls.

Although Om Prakash Rajbhar, founder leader of th party, terms Ram’s estimate as moderate, the members of the community are, however, confident that the party can win seven to ten seats, that can give the party bargaining power in case of hung assembly. And, he has candidates like former forest minister Rajdhari Kotli and many rajbhars, with known political credentials, thus winning sympathy from the community.

If he gets seven to ten seats, dream of rajbhars like Kumar Rajbhar, a landless labour who earns just Rs 50 a day in village Doasiya, may come true. “I want my son to get a job like other harijans,” he said, pointing that none of the Rajbhars in 100 odd homes in his village have a government job. Those of other communities like Yadavs and Rajputs admit that they are even in worser state that Scheduled Caste, who had gained from the reservation.

Om Prakash has hit the right never with a promise that Rajbhars would be included in Scheduled Caste list and
get similar reservation, if SBSP participates in the government. “We want to end decades’ long injustice to our community,” he asserted. The party has also demand for a Purvanchal state for eastern UP and reservation on economical backwardness than only social backwardness, aimed to woo higher castes. “We want reservation only for those who are really backward irrespective of caste or creed,” he told HT, while accusing both BSP and SP cheating with the poorest in the region, Rajbhars.

Rajbhar’s political opponents like JP Jaiswal, a Congress candidate from Dawaria assembly segment and Rajan Singh, a Samajwadi Party worker, are not impressed and dismisses’ SBSP’s claims with disdain. “His candidates are not even in fray,” Jaiswal charges, but some others in Congress admit that the party would get a sizeable chunk of votes, especially from the BSP candidates.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Chetan Chauhan
Chetan Chauhan is the National Affairs Editor looking into all aspects of news and features from across India. A Chevening scholar with over three decades of experience in reporting and news management, Chetan has extensively covered all important aspects of the social sector, political economy, environment and climate change nationally and internationally. He did a journalism course at the Reuters Institute of Journalism in Oxford and Digital Media training at Nanyang Technological University in Singapore. He started as a reporter with The Statesman in 1996 and joined the Hindustan Times in 2000 in the metro bureau covering environment, crime and Delhi politics. He covered hot local news, from the Jessica Lal murder case to the rebellion of Delhi Congress MLAs against then Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit, to the replacement of toxic vehicle fuel with cleaner compressed natural gas (CNG) in the national capital. Some of his stories on air pollution became part of the Supreme Court’s landmark MC Mehta versus Government of India case in the National Capital Region (NCR), forcing the government to take corrective measures. As part of the national political bureau since 2004, he covered important central sectors such as environment, education, social justice, labour, rural development, water resources, renewable energy, agriculture, broadcasting and the Planning Commission for more than a decade producing several exclusive and investigative breaking stories. His specialisation is the environment, having covered at least a dozen United Nations global conferences on climate change, biodiversity and wildlife including climate summits in Paris, Copenhagen and Bali. He also covered India’s two five-year plans ---11th and 12th and reported on drafting and execution of right based laws such as Right to Education, Right to Information and rural job guarantee law, MG-NREGA, now being introduced in new format as VG-RAM-G Act. He has in-depth knowledge of social sector issues. He was one of the first to report on tigers vanishing from Sariska and Panna wildlife reserves in 2004 and 2008, respectively, leading to the setting up of the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) and the introduction of stringent penal provisions for poaching. He has written extensively on the rising human-animal conflict in India and the degradation of India’s biodiversity hotspots because of mining and other activities. Since 2004, Chetan has covered Parliament comprehensively and participated in training on the nuanced coverage of Parliament proceedings. He has travelled extensively across India to cover national and provincial elections since 1998, especially in the Hindi heartland states, considered India’s road to power. He writes a regular column for Hindustan Times, Ecostani, on important national politics, economy, Himalayan ecology and environmental issues. His other responsibilities include providing inputs for edits and edit page articles for the publication, apart from managing news flow from across India.Read More

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