Mayawati paradox

Today the Dalit is in a dilemma. Does he remain loyal to Mayawati, the symbol of the revolution or is his participation in the revolution being increasingly taken for granted? Mayawati has transformed the BSP into a party of the ‘sarvajan samaj’, from a party of Dalits into a party of all castes. The ‘Brahmin jodo’ strategy led her to a spectacular victory in 2007. Yet her alliance with upper castes has led to both economic and political displacement of the Dalits. Election tickets previously given only to SCs are now being given to Brahmins and other castes. In jobs, the post of a safai karamchari, once reserved for lower castes, is now even allotted to Brahmins, who promptly sub-contract it to the Dalits but pocket the salary. Jatavs have cornered the benefits of SC reservations, leading to disenchantment among the Balmikis and Pasis. Backward groups such as the Mallas and Kahars now want to be classified as STs, the SC category crowded out by competition.

Having created the social coalition of all castes, managing it and giving it a political identity has been Mayawati’s downfall, making many aggrieved upper caste groups as well as backward communities want to “teach her a lesson” for first raising their expectations and then failing to meet them. The early Congress joined the Dalits and Brahmins under a larger vision of nation-building. Mayawati has failed to create a larger vision for her Dalit-Brahmin alliance and give it a sense of a common mission.

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