The Future of Dalit Politics in Uttar Pradesh: Mayawati’s Decline and Azad’s Emergence Lays A Shaky Ground
The HinduPublished : Dec 19, 2024 16:28 IST - 5 MINS READ Dalit politics in Uttar Pradesh is at crossroads. Though Azad has asserted that his party will contest all seats in the 2027 Uttar Pradesh Assembly election, the Dalit discourse in the State—where Punjab-born Dalit leader Kanshi Ram had succeeded in creating an environment where a Dalit woman, Mayawati, could become Chief Minister for four terms—is now so feeble, it does not signal the victory of either Dalit party. In the 2024 Lok Sabha election, Azad won Uttar Pradesh’s Nagina seat securing over 51 per cent of votes. And the main beneficiary of BSP’s decline in Uttar Pradesh is BJP: The saffron party first managed to woo non-Jatav Dalits and then a substantial chunk of Jatavs, a Dalit subcaste to which Mayawati belongs. In the 2024 Lok Sabha election, the BSP had contested 424 seats across the country including 79 in Uttar Pradesh, but could win none.