Among the seats from which Mallikarjun Kharge can contest elections in Uttar Pradesh, one seat is Etawah and the other is Barabanki. Both these seats are currently held by BJP, but the interesting thing is that BSP chief Mayawati's political guru Kanshi Ram was the MP on one seat, while PL Punia, who was close to her, was elected MP from the other seat.
The route to power in Delhi passes through Uttar Pradesh. This is not just said, but the election track record also proves it. From Pandit Jawahar Lal Nehru to Indira Gandhi, Rajiv Gandhi, Atal Bihar Vajpayee and Narendra Modi, all have become the Prime Minister of the country by winning from Uttar Pradesh. The opposition is trying to stop BJP on this path, for which a political network has started being woven. In view of this, Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge is preparing to contest the 2024 Lok Sabha elections from Uttar Pradesh.
That seat of UP has also been identified for Mallikarjun Kharge, from where BSP founder Kanshi Ram had won and became MP for the first time. Only after this, Kanshi Ram awakened political consciousness in the hearts of Dalits in Uttar Pradesh and worked to take BSP to new political heights. After three decades, BSP has become marginalized in UP politics, while Congress is working on the strategy of connecting Dalits with itself through Kharge.
Keeping an eye on Dalit votes with the help of Kharge
From which seat Congress has fielded Kharge in UP, it is in the womb of future, but one thing is clear that Congress is serious in adding Dalit votes. In such a situation, Congress believes that BSP chief Mayawati is becoming a helper of BJP instead of being a part of the opposition alliance INDIA. In such a situation, to attract Dalit votes across the country including UP, Congress President and Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge should be fielded as the candidate of the opposition alliance from his Gulbarga seat in South Karnataka as well as Etawah or Barabanki seat of UP.
Among the seats where Kharge is being discussed to contest elections in UP, one seat is Etawah and the other is Barabanki. Both these seats are currently held by BJP, but the interesting thing is that BSP chief Mayawati's political guru Kanshi Ram was the MP on one seat, while PL Punia, who was close to her, was elected MP from the other seat. There is an equation of Dalit-backward votes in Etawah seat. The Dalit-Muslim combination is very strong in the second Barabanki seat. If he contests from Etawah, then Yadav can influence the belt seats and if he contests from Barabanki seat, he will influence the Awadh seats including Rae Bareli-Amethi.
Kanshi Ram became MP from Etawah for the first time
With the formation of BSP in 1984, Kanshi Ram created a strong political base of 'Dalit Samaj'. He roamed around different parts of the country and campaigned among backward classes, Dalits, tribals and minorities. Mulayam Singh Yadav was doing OBC-minority politics. Kanshi Ram had lost the contest from Saharanpur, Amethi, Allahabad in UP and Hoshiarpur Lok Sabha seat in Punjab. In 1991, Etawah Lok Sabha seat of UP became vacant, where Kanshi Ram was elected MP for the first time by winning the by-election. Till that time Etawah Lok Sabha seat was unreserved.
With the victory of Kanshi Ram, a new political equation started in UP. Mulayam Singh played an important role in making Kanshi Ram win in Etawah. Mulayam's close friend Ram Singh Shakya was a candidate from Janata Dal, but he helped Kanshi Ram. It was only after Kanshi Ram's request that Mulayam Singh formed the Samajwadi Party. Kanshi Ram had said at that time that if we join hands with Mulayam Singh, then all the parties in UP will be wiped out. After the Etawah victory, the alliance between Mulayam and Kanshi Ram started and in 1993 both of them contested the elections together. BJP was wiped out.
Kanshi Ram was running with his mission of 85 vs 15, in which Mulayam Singh Yadav was fitting in for him. BSP got political heights after Kanshi Ram was elected MP. She was an ally in the government in 1993 and Mayawati became the CM in 1995 after the alliance with SP broke. After Kanshi Ram fell ill, when the command of BSP came into the hands of Mayawati, she became so busy in moving away from the mission of Bahujan Samaj and searching for everyone for power. In 2007, BSP definitely came to power in UP on its own, but the Dalit base of BSP kept shrinking. Even the castes considered Dalits started getting separated from them and when Mayawati reached political margins, Congress got busy in the mission of garnering Dalit votes.
Plan to contest Kharge from Kanshiram's seat
BSP chief Mayawati is preparing to contest the elections alone in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections instead of forming an alliance with NDA and opposition alliance INDIA. In such a situation, Congress is preparing to field Mallikarjun Kharge from the opposition alliance in Uttar Pradesh, through which on one hand there is a plan to give a political message to Mayawati and on the other hand there is a plan to win the trust of Dalit votes. In such a situation, the same seat is being identified for Kharge from where Kanshi Ram was elected MP. In this way, Congress can try to directly adopt Kanshi Ram's legacy through Kharge.
Kharge may be in Congress and is currently the party president, but he has always been pursuing social justice politics. In the assembly elections held this year in Karnataka, Congress has been successful in getting Dalit votes outright in its favor through Kharge. Kharge never leaves any opportunity to cash in on the Dalit card. While giving edge to the issue of caste census, Kharge also raises the issue of Kanshi Ram's principle of social justice, 'As much as he has, so is his share' in his speeches. In such a situation, if he is contesting from Kanshiram's seat, a big political message will be sent.
SP-RLD will also benefit from Dalit votes
Congress is assuming that if Kharge contests elections from UP, SP-RLD will also benefit from Dalit votes, because both the parties are part of the opposition alliance INDIA. Congress's support to Dalit leaders in reserved seats like Etawah and Barabanki will help it in garnering Dalit votes along with the backward classes. Not only this, due to Kharge's fight, Congress's traditional vote of Dalits can also return to the same side, which is currently with BSP and BJP. Jatavs are associated with BSP and non-Jatav Dalits are associated with BJP.
22 percent Dalit voters in Uttar Pradesh
Dalit voters are 22 percent in Uttar Pradesh, who have the power to make or break the game of any party. There are more than 15 crore voters in 2022, out of which more than 3 crore are voters from the Dalit community. Before the political rise of BSP, Dalit voters used to be the traditional voters of Congress, but this was lost over time. Congress is trying to win back the Dalit votes, for which Mallikarjun Kharge has been given the command of the party and now he is preparing to contest elections from UP. In such a situation, it remains to be seen how successful Congress's Kharge bet is.
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