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The purification controversy that followed Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge’s Haldwani program is no longer just a political issue for the party. Rahul Gandhi is linking it to broader questions like Dalit respect, untouchability and social equality.

Lucknow: Congress has intensified its strategy for the support of Dalits and backward classes in the politics of Uttar Pradesh. The party is now linking the purification controversy that arose after Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge’s program in Haldwani with the larger issue of Dalit respect, social equality and caste discrimination. Congress leader Rahul Gandhi has also been raising these questions at the national level. In such a situation, it is believed that the party is trying to make social justice the main basis of its political strategy in Uttar Pradesh and other parts of the country.

This exercise of Congress is not being limited only to the upcoming Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections. The party leadership wants to create its own distinct social and political narrative for the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) through issues like caste census, social representation and political participation of backward classes.

Congress is linking Haldwani dispute with social justice

The purification controversy to Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge’s program in Haldwani has become a political issue for the party. Congress is presenting it as a comprehensive campaign against Dalit honor and social evils like untouchability. The party’s strategy is to raise such issues in different parts of the country instead of limiting them only to Uttarakhand. Congress argues that the question of social equality and respect is not limited to any one state or election.

Rahul Gandhi and Mallikarjun Kharge are also continuously raising the demand for collecting detailed data in the caste census. Congress believes that policies and government schemes can be formulated more effectively when data to the actual social and economic condition of castes is available.

Congress’s emphasis on caste census

The Congress leadership has demanded to make caste information more detailed in the proposed census. The party says that the current system will not be able to adequately assess the actual share of Other Backward Classes (OBC) and other social groups. This issue has become an important part of the broader social justice politics of Congress. The party is linking it to questions like employment, representation, welfare schemes and political participation.

The results of Uttar Pradesh in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections also gave the opposition parties an opportunity to rethink the political role of Dalit and backward voters. The opposition alliance won a large number of seats in the state, while the BJP’s performance was weaker than the previous election.

Is there an attempt to break into Mayawati’s vote bank?

In the politics of Uttar Pradesh, a large section of Dalit voters have been associated with the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) and its leader Mayawati for a long time. However, BSP’s performance has weakened in recent elections. The party could not win any seat in the state in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, but its vote share was around 9.4 percent.

This is why BSP’s weak electoral performance can be seen as a possible political opportunity for Congress. However, this does not mean that Mayawati’s Dalit base has ended. BSP’s social hold, especially among the Jatav community, is still considered important in the politics of Uttar Pradesh.

The challenge before the Congress is that it will not be easy to bring the traditional supporters of BSP to its side. Social identity, local leadership and long-standing organizational ties play an important role in Dalit politics.

There will be competition with BJP and SP also

Congress’s efforts to woo Dalit and backward voters face competition not only from BSP but also from BJP and Samajwadi Party (SP). The BJP has increased its influence among non-Jatav Dalit and non-Yadav OBC groups over the years. At the same time, Samajwadi Party is trying to make its PDA i.e. Backward, Dalit and Minority social equation a political base in Uttar Pradesh.

In such a situation, Congress faces a double challenge. On one hand, it will have to challenge the strong social alliance of BJP, while on the other hand, it will have to strengthen its political base with an ally party like SP in the opposition camp.