There is a scramble for Dalit votes in Haryana, especially with voting just two days away. They account for about 20% of votes which explains why they are critical and the Congress, smelling victory, wants to take no chances.
So the entry of Ashok Tanwar, a Dalit leader, back into the Congress is a big move by the party in this direction. And the Congress ensured that Tanwar joined the party in the presence of Rahul Gandhi.
Interestingly Tanwar had contested against Selja, a Dalit leader from Sirsa, but lost. Selja met Sonia Gandhi on Thursday and sources say the former Congress chief reached out to her to ensure her complete support for the party on the critical polling day on October 5 to ensure that Dalits come out to vote in large numbers for the Congress. In fact, even more, as BJP leaders in Haryana and even chief minister Nayab Singh Saini had been flaunting Tanwar as an example of why Dalits were an outcast for the Congress. So much so, in light of Kumari Selja’s sulk in the Congress, it was another ammunition for the BJP to call out the Congress and Rahul Gandhi for their “anti-Dalit mindset”.
In a state where “Jat versus non-Jat” is a big issue, it’s this Dalit chessboard that has changed the political dynamics. Even more so as the BSP-INLD and JJP-Azad Samaj Party too have made strategic alliances and jumped into the fray.
The Congress calculates that the Dalits will vote for them following the Lok Sabha pattern. The Congress bagged around 68% of Dalit votes while the Bharatiya Janata Party got around 24%. That’s why Rahul Gandhi is giving a push for a caste census, and making the point that the BJP has been delaying it because it doesn’t care for Dalits.
The Congress, both in its seven guarantees and manifesto, has promised a caste census and to increase the creamy layer for the Other Backward Classes. The BJP too has decided not to fall behind by promising full scholarships to the OBC and Scheduled Caste students in engineering and medical students in government colleges.
To counter the Rahul Gandhi narrative on Dalits, the Bahujan Samaj Party has unleashed Mayawati’s nephew Akash Anand to make the point that the Congress is a chunaavi (electoral) Dalit party while the asli (real) one is the BSP.
It’s the 20% which could prove to be the game changer. At least the Congress hopes so.
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