Lok Sabha elections 2019: Dalit anger meets upper-caste resentment in MP poll campaign

For most of his life, Ramnaresh Jatav spend most of his income on his son’s education, but without complaint. After all, he reasoned, the expense was an investment in his family’s future.

For most of his life, Ramnaresh Jatav spend most of his income on his son’s education, but without complaint. After all, he reasoned, the expense was an investment in his family’s future. His 18-year old son Pradeep Singh was all set to finish his studies and take up a job that would pull the family out of hunger and poverty.

“That dream however died on April 2,” he says, when Pradeep was killed during protests against the dilution of the Scheduled Castes (SC) and Scheduled Tribes (ST) Prevention of Atrocities Act (PoA) by the Supreme Court. Pradeep, and 15-year-old Akash, also a resident of Bhind, are among nine people who died in the state during the April 2 protests, which prompted the government to roll back the changes. But local villagers say there has been little action in the individual cases of killing.

“There has been little action so far, two of the accused [in Pradeep’s killing] recently surrendered and one is still absconding. Investigation in other cases is sluggish too,” says Subhash Rathore, an advocate.

The protests, and the deaths, continue to be a major election issue in Bhind, an SC-reserved seat, and Morena. Both go to the polls on May 12 .

This churn is being repeated across Madhya Pradesh, which topped the country in crimes against SCs according to the 2016 report of the National Crime Records Bureau. The BJP won 27 of the 29 seats in the state in 2014 and hopes to hold on to its dominance, while the Congress aims to make most of its assembly election comeback.

FETCHING DALIT VOTES

Bhind, which has around 15% SCs, has been won by the BJP since 1989; and the seat will see a contest between the Congress’s Devashish Jarariya, a young lawyer, and the BJP’s Sandhya Rai. Locals say they heard that Jarariya was the leader of the April 2 protests, and that has pried open the caste divide. “The BJP is saying the Congress candidate took part in the Dalit agitation and his candidature has angered the upper castes in this area,” says Ramsevak Bhadoriya, an upper caste farmer.

For the lower castes, Jarariya is a leader from Delhi to represent them. Rajesh Jatav. 35, a labourer , says, “I have seen Jarariya on television talking about Dalit rights, but it is true that upper castes are angry that he has been given ticket.”

The 28-year-old Jarariya is aware of the response his candidature has drawn but says most of it are rumours by his political opponents. Rai says she is not linked to any “caste politics” and that the Congress were seeking votes in the name of caste.

Additionally, many Jatavs in Bhind say they have heard that the BJP is trying to “dilute the reservation policy”, a sentiment that has become stronger after the introduction of the 10% quota for the poorest among the general castes in January.

The BJP is countering this sentiment by saying that the bulk of the 220 million beneficiaries of its welfare schemes are from the lower castes. The BJP and its ideological fount, the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, have carried out extensive campaigns to change the perception that they want caste-based reservation scrapped and say the personal appeal of Modi will sway young people from the SC communities. “It is a myth created by the Opposition; they know that the BJP is getting stronger because of its social schemes which benefit all including the Dalits,” said a top functionary of the RSS in Gwalior .

UPPER CASTE ANGER

Caste factors influence the votes of upper-caste communities as well. This is especially important for the BJP, which has traditionally received the support of the upper-castes, and wants to maintain a fine balance between keeping the SC/ST votes in its fold, and not antagonizing forward castes.

The RSS functionary quoted above admitted the BJP has had to face a caste conundrum in the state, first because of the apex court order and then the subsequent anger among the upper castes over the government rollback . “Organisations such as a the Sapaks [Samanya Picchda Evam Alpsankhyak Samaj] tried to create divisions. But the voters rejected them,” the RSS functionary added.

Sapaks, an anti-reservation front, had campaigned against the BJP during the December assembly polls. But since then, the BJP has introduced its 10% quota. “The upper caste anger is now over and the party is also relying on the Other Backward Classes (OBC) vote. PM Modi and a popular leader from the state, Uma Bharti, are OBCs,” said a BJP functionary in Gwalior, requesting anonymity.

The Congress, which has made local issues and development its poll plank, says it is confident of winning the support of the upper castes as well as Dalits and STs.

A congress leader in Bhind, Jai Shriram Baghel, said for the first time, that the sangathan and sarkar (organisation and government) are working together to win elections. “All differences have been set aside; and this election is being fought on the basis of development for all.

Unlike the BJP who is peddling the Pakistan-attack story; we are focussing on jobs and growth; naturally we will have the support of all castes,” he said.

Political analysts Shirish Kashikar said Dalits in MP are scattered, and therefore likely to have a limited impact on the polls.

“Gwalior-Chambal region has always been a hotbed of caste politics with upper castes ranged against the lower castes. The April 2 incident only increased the gap and local politicians never tried to bridge it,” added Jayant Singh Tomar of Gwaliorbased ITM University,

(With inputs from Punya Priya Mitra and Shruti Tomar)