Awakening of the Weakest ...under the Leadership of the Dalits A Second Uprising in the 150th year of the Mutiny
Dr. Malay Chaudhuri
Founder - Director, IIPM & Author of the Best Seller ‘The Great Indian Dream
The significance of Mayawati's victory has not been properly grasped by the media and the intelligentsia. This is the impression that one gets after going through all the write-ups published in the print media and debates and discussions organised by broadcasters throughout the country.
Everyone has been surprised by the outcome. BSP's success as a political party, under Mayawati was never in doubt since their vote-bank was the most committed one. The Election Commission, thankfully, has also seen to it by organising the assembly polls in seven phases. This ensured the Dalits to come out in their full strength fearlessly, as they were protected by sufficient central forces, under the direct supervision of the Commission. As a result, this time the Dalit voters could not be hounded out by lathi/gun wielding goondas of other political parties, who have for so long prevented the weakest of the society to make use of their strongest weapon, their democratic right to vote and chose their own candidate.
The success of the Election Commission, first in Bihar and now in UP, will definitely boost confidence in every future Mayawatis and their loyal voters to stand up against the threats of criminal candidates and musclemen of other political parties, and thereby will not indulge in having criminals in their own ranks as well. It is imperative and urgently required that genuine political parties (do we have a single genuine political party?) should no longer require criminal candidates to win elections. In this regard, we may consider having a system, where votes are caste in favour of political parties and not individual candidates as is the norm in Germany.
Last fortnight, we have seen Mayawati's usual display of prowess transferring IAS officers, renaming parks filled with statues of elephants (BSP emblem) and Dalit leaders and cancelling Mulayam's projects favoring his own cronies. We are still waiting for genuine economic welfare steps to help Dalits and others belonging to the rainbow coalition. There is a strong likelihood that time may soon run out for behenji and we will find ourselves stranded at the same place as was during Mulayam's regime. It should be noted here, that it is tough to recall a single genuine pro-poor welfare measure during her past three tenures at the helm in UP. History should not be repeated. With an absolute majority in the state assembly, she now has a chance to see her name engraved in golden letters in history by undertaking welfare measures that will help the poor across all castes and religions.
She has crafted a rainbow coalition under the leadership of the poorest of the poor, history's most exploited class for centuries. She must prove that the leadership of the poorest of the poor has the potentiality to rise above narrow castes and religious considerations to help the poor of all castes and religions. The leadership of the Dalits should usher in a revolution India has been waiting for nearly 60 years since its independence.
A recently released full page advertisement in all leading dailies with a large portrait of hers in the centre space, has been published. Let it not be an empty drum-beating which our political leaders indulge in from time to time at the cost of the poor. Let every word written there in the advertisement be true: “Sarvajana Hitaya, Sarvajana Sukhaya” (Welfare and Happiness for All). She promises to transform Bahujana to Sarvajana. Let it also be materialised by the development of BIJLI, PAANI and SADAK in every village of UP especially in the habitations of the Dalits and Muslims. Let her also add education, employment and social security, which the Dalits, Muslims and poor of all castes need most.
During Nehruvian era and afterwards, leadership was always with the aristocracies or in West Bengal, under the so called Marxists, with petty bourgeois, having a profound totalitarian tilt. The Dravidian movement was also exclusive and anti-Brahmin and anti-upper caste Hindus. For the first time, there is an all inclusive rainbow coalition with leadership firmly resting with the Dalits, the UNTOUCHABLES and the poorest of the poor. Therefore, we have acquired the right to expect a different kind of emerging India and let us pray and hope that Mayawati does not disappoint us. If she disappoints, time will throw her in the dustbins of history and a new leadership of the poorest of the poor will then emerge leading India and the World to new triumphs. She should better remember that the voters' loyalty cannot be taken for granted forever.
While slogans were always inclusive growth, realities were different. Either the benefits accrued exclusively for one class or it excluded certain classes. Like Dravidian movement, BSP always had an anti Brahmin and anti upper-caste Hindu orientation, which has now been shed under Mayawati. She has included them all in her rainbow coalition. She has even successfully inspired confidence amongst Muslim voters to be a part of the same. This is unique and she should now also aim to win over the so called Other Backward Castes (OBCs), whose creamy layers have recently emerged as perpetrators of the oppression over the Dalits in the rural areas. She has already spoken against the creamy layers as far as reservation of OBC is concerned. She now has the power and the opportunity. We strongly wish that she will also stand up equally for the poor in the Other Backward Castes by bestowing all favors on the poor of the state, irrespective of castes and religions. These will ensure her victory in the coming elections even in other regions... and if this happens, days are not far when she will find herself comfortably placed on the highest pedestal of governance in Delhi as well, dislodging all types of spurious leaders of various hues and colours.