Controversy over Ambedkar: Has Amit Shah’s comment cornered the BJP on Dalit politics?

“It has become a fashion now… Ambedkar, Ambedkar, Ambedkar, Ambedkar, Ambedkar, Ambedkar, Ambedkar. If you take this many names of God, you will get heaven for seven lives.”

During the discussion on the constitution by Union Home Minister Amit Shah in Parliament, this small part of a long speech created such an uproar that the proceedings of the Parliament had to be adjourned.

Amit Shah held a press conference on Wednesday to answer the attacking opposition who saw this statement as an insult to Ambedkar.

Amit Shah said, “Those who insulted Baba Saheb throughout his life, sidelined his principles, did not let Baba Saheb get Bharat Ratna while in power, flouted the principles of reservation, those people want to spread confusion in the name of Baba Saheb today.”

Not only this, Prime Minister Narendra Modi stated on social media and told what his government has done in honor of Bhimrao Ambedkar, the architect of the Indian Constitution.

But despite all this, the uproar did not stop. Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge accused Amit Shah of insulting Ambedkar and demanded his resignation.

Kharge said, “He has insulted Baba Saheb, he has insulted the Constitution, his RSS ideology shows that he himself does not want to respect Baba Saheb’s Constitution. The entire opposition demands Amit Shah’s resignation.”

At the same time, Bahujan Samaj Party President Mayawati issued a statement saying that both Congress and BJP are only doing politics in the name of Bhimrao Ambedkar.

Why did the BJP have to clarify?

Why is this statement of Amit Shah being considered an insult to Ambedkar and how can this affect BJP’s Dalit politics?

Responding to this, Dalit researcher and Assistant Professor at Deshbhakt University, Punjab, Dr. Havaldar Bharti says, “If God liberates from exploitation, then Dr. Bhimrao Ambedkar is the God of crores of people of the caste-based Indian society who have suffered social, economic, political and educational discrimination for centuries. Bhimrao Ambedkar has liberated the scheduled and backward castes from exploitation by giving them the right to equality in the Constitution.”

Dr. Havaldar Bharti says, “This is the reason why people associated with Ambedkar’s ideology and Dalit politics are seeing this statement of Amit Shah as an insult to Ambedkar.”

But Bharti also says that at this time there is competition among all political parties to adopt Ambedkar and instead of implementing Ambedkar’s ideas, political parties are trying to attract Dalit voters by using his identity.

After Amit Shah’s statement on Ambedkar, the BJP is on the defensive. Not only this, in recent years, the Bharatiya Janata Party has made efforts to attract Dalit and backward voters. There are many reasons for this.

Identity of the party of Brahmins and Baniyas

For a long time, it was said that the Bharatiya Janata Party that it is the party of Brahmins and Baniyas. But in the last decade, the BJP has gone beyond this identity and has succeeded in connecting other castes of the Hindu society as well.

BJP tries to ensure that the politics of caste identity does not dominate and the politics of religious identity of the majority of Hindus becomes strong.

Political analyst Professor Abhay Kumar Dubey says, “The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh was mainly an organization of the upper castes of Maharashtra, especially Brahmins, and initially the Scheduled Castes were not attracted to it.”

“There was no scope for criticism of Brahminism in the RSS then and neither is there now. The ideology of the RSS is not of equality but of harmony. Today the situation is that if BJP and RSS have to do electoral politics, then they have to create electoral Hindu unity, which is not possible without getting the votes of the Dalit and OBC community.”

The Sangh had made efforts for this even before the establishment of the BJP. In 1974, when Balasaheb Deoras was the Sarsanghchalak of the Sangh, the Sangh changed its attitude. The names of great men like Ambedkar, Periyar, and Mahatma Phule were added to their morning prayers. Apart from this, programs were run to attract Dalits and tribals.

Professor Parvesh Chaudhary of Delhi’s Jawaharlal Nehru University argues that the RSS had adopted Ambedkar even before the BJP was formed

Efforts to connect Dalits with BJP

Professor Parvesh Chaudhary says, “BJP has been promoting Dalits not just from today but from the time of Jan Sangh or even before that. Baba Saheb Ambedkar’s election agent was Maharashtra’s propagandist Dattopant Thengadi, the RSS has always had an attachment towards Baba Saheb.”

“In the 1970s, the RSS started Samrasta Goshthi in Maharashtra, which happened even before the formation of BJP. The place where BJP started in Mumbai was named Samta Nagar. Datta Rao Shinde laid the first foundation here, he was the leader of the Dalit Panther Movement and later went to Congress and then BJP. Suraj Bhan was made the Governor by the BJP itself. Bangaru Laxman was made the National President of the party.”

But despite this, the question arises whether the BJP did concrete politics to bring Dalits into the mainstream or symbolic politics.

Abhay Kumar Dubey says, “Equality and harmony are two different things. BJP talks about harmony but not equality. Equality is Ambedkar’s basic idea. There are many tricks in electoral politics, votes are obtained even without adopting ideas. BJP is trying to do the same.” Dubey says, “It may have come out of Amit Shah’s mouth but one should not be very surprised about it. He has said what he must have felt. Narendra Modi’s government suppressed Ambedkarites across the country after the Bhima Koregaon incident. BJP has promoted Ambedkar’s image, not his ideology.”

Promotion of non-Jatav castes

Jatav, the largest caste among Dalits, has traditionally stayed away from BJP. But BJP tried to bring non-Jatav castes to its side.

Vivek Kumar, a professor at Jawaharlal Nehru University and a researcher on Ambedkar, says, “Even though Jatavs have stayed away from BJP, BJP has been trying to draw non-Jatav Dalit castes towards itself since the beginning.”

Professor Vivek Kumar says, “BJP promoted Ramayana written by Valmiki and drew the Valmiki community towards itself. In UP, the Pasi community, which is associated with Parshuram, was attracted to the BJP. BJP has also drawn Khatik community and Dhobi community towards itself. That is, non-Jatav Dalits have already been with the BJP. If we look at the all India level, then Mahar leader Ramdas Athawale is also with BJP.”

But it is not that BJP has not tried to attract the Jatav community towards itself.

Professor Dubey says, “BJP has assured the Dalits that if you vote for us, we will give you equal space in politics. Jatav is the largest caste among Dalits. Bahujan Samaj Party especially associated Jatavs with itself.”

“The rise of BSP gave political space to the Jatav caste. At the same time, BJP realized that other scheduled castes were not getting a place in politics and BJP tried to give them a place and the result was that other Dalit castes, apart from Jatavs, started joining BJP.”

Dubey says, “Mahars may not be with BJP in Maharashtra but non-Mahar Dalit castes are with BJP in Maharashtra.”

Abhay Dubey says, “BJP took advantage of the division of castes among Dalits and attracted smaller Dalit castes towards itself. The party is now trying to attract Jatavs and for that, it is necessary to adopt Ambedkar and promote his ideas. “

Political competition to adopt Ambedkar

At present, there seems to be a competition in Indian politics to adopt Baba Saheb Bhimrao Ambedkar. Congress is constantly talking about the constitution, caste census and reservation. The president of Congress is Dalit leader Mallikarjun Kharge.

Professor Vivek Kumar says, “Congress is seen ahead of BJP in terms of Dalit politics and is constantly promoting caste identity.”

The question of caste identity can create problems for BJP which is doing Hindutva politics.

Analysts believe that the model of Hindutva that which BJP is promoting does not have the question of caste identity.

Professor Vivek Kumar says, “BJP would not want the question of caste identity to arise. Congress has constantly promoted caste identity and now the BJP feels the need to answer it. This is what BJP is trying to do by creating a debate around Ambedkar.”

BJP established Ambedkar’s Panchtirtha. Ambedkar’s memorial was built in London. Constitution Day has been celebrated on a large scale since the BJP came to power.

Professor Parvesh Chaudhary says, “BJP preserved all the places associated with Baba Saheb Ambedkar and developed them as pilgrimages. Baba Saheb Ambedkar Center was established to promote his personality and thoughts.”

Dr. Parvesh Chaudhary, author of the book ‘Rashtra Nirmaat Baba Saheb Ambedkar’ says, “Baba Saheb Ambedkar is not only the leader of Dalits but is the leader of the entire India and the world. BJP has promoted this idea. Congress created Ambedkar’s image as a Dalit leader but BJP is bringing him to the global level. BJP has promoted every aspect of him.”

Weakening self-reliant Dalit politics

Dalit parties that used to reach political power on their own are now marginalized. Bahujan Samaj Party is an example of this, which is unable to send MPs on its own.

Professor Vivek Kumar says, “The acceptance of Baba Saheb Ambedkar in all parties today is also because self-reliant Dalit politics has weakened today. BSP in UP, Lok Jan Shakti Party in Bihar or Prakash Ambedkar in Maharashtra were holding on to self-reliant Dalit politics but in the present times this Dalit politics has weakened.”

Be it North India, Central India or South India, the number of MPs and MLAs coming from self-reliant Dalit politics has decreased.

In such a situation, political parties feel that the ground for Dalit politics is vacant.

Professor Vivek Kumar says, “Now Congress is running the agenda of Dalit politics. There was a time when BSP used to say that BSP is in the field in respect of the Constitution. Today Congress and India alliance is saying that the more the number, the more the share. This is the reason why BJP has also become aggressive about Dalit politics and is trying to attract Dalits towards itself.”

According to the 2011 census, the population of Dalits in India is about 16.6 percent, but Dalit organizations believe that the actual population of Dalits in India can be more than 20 percent. 84 seats in the Lok Sabha are reserved for Dalits.

However, a caste census has not been done in India and many opposition parties including Congress are demanding a caste census.

Analysts believe that it is a political compulsion for the parties to take Dalits along for political power.

Reservation, caste census, and equal share are many such issues, about which awareness has increased among Dalits.

The Bharatiya Janata Party has also made a provision for reservation on an economic basis, which Dalits are not accepting. They consider it a breach in the reservation set for the organization and the backward classes.

Professor Dubey says, “Now slowly the Dalits and the backward class people have started to feel that the BJP is mainly a Brahmin-Bania party. The BJP fears that if the Dalits and backward castes separate from it, it may suffer political losses. Today every party knows that one cannot reach power without getting the votes of the Dalits. This is the reason why the BJP seems to be very sensitive towards the Dalits and the backward classes. The question is whether this sensitivity is limited only to getting votes or is its objective also the real rise of the Dalits.”

Can Amit Shah’s statement cause any harm?

Amidst the political uproar over Amit Shah’s statement, the question has also arisen whether this statement can cause political harm to the BJP.

Analysts believe that it does not seem that it will cause any major political harm.

Abhay Kumar Dubey says, “Ambedkarism and Dalit society are for each other but if seen practically, the number of Dalits following Ambedkarism is very less. They are a small part of the Dalit population. In such a situation, it is unlikely that this statement of Amit Shah will have any special effect on the wider Dalit population. All Dalits have respect for Ambedkar but it remains to be seen how much the votes are influenced by his name. Ambedkar himself did not get political success in his life.”

Abhay Dubey says, “This issue will not be created by a few days of political noise. More ground-level efforts will have to be made to make Ambedkar’s ideas a wider political issue and corner the BJP on this issue.”

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