In recent Lok Sabha elections, opposition parties formed alliance INDIA while the ruling alliance was NDA, however the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) was under the microscope as it contested elections independently of these alliances, this political decision earned BSP a label of ‘vote cutter’ and ‘B-Team of BJP’. In this article I shall try to analyse this political labelling of BSP. Further through instances of Independent Bahujan leadership and their labelling, I shall argue that such labelling of Bahujan- Ambedkarite parties as ‘B team’ is a reaction and counter to autonomous and independent Bahujan political imagination and representation thereby undermining Ambedkarite-Bahujan agency.
BSP, B-Team?
Firstly, let us look at this label of B team through the arguments put forward by supporters of the India alliance. They argue based on the data that on the 16 seats in Uttar Pradesh where BSP gained more votes than the winning margin of the Bhartiya Janta Party (BJP) or its ally, Reema Nagrajan for the Times Group noted that fourteen of these seats were won by BJP and two were won by its allies RLD and Apna Dal, thereby concluding that BSP helped BJP win these 16 seats and hence it’s labelled BJP’s B-Team. However, this analysis is based on the assumption that the votes gained by BSP were supposed to be cast for the India alliance, which they don’t have any empirical evidence for. It might be a possibility that BSP may have gained BJP’s vote. How can they claim that it’s India alliance votes that were cast for BSP?
According to this logic, BSP should neither contest elections nor field its candidates. It suggested that BSP should not field its candidates on these seats. Now the question arises: why is the Indian National Congress (INC) not asked to not field its candidates on these seats?
Moreover, with this logic, if Congress had not contested the elections in Orissa, Biju Janta Dal (BJD) would have won at least 14 seats outright and BJP’s 14 seats would have been reduced. Why are INC or Communist Party of India (CPI) not called B-teams when they could have contested together in Kerala where BJP’s Suresh Gopi won? Both together got 6,65,776 votes, which is way higher than 4,12,338.
Why labelling to only Bahujan parties?
Why is such labelling not done to INC or other third performing parties? Such allegations are discriminatory and casteist, they are invoked to create a false image of Ambedkarite-Bahujan politics as non progressive and supportive of communalism. As a consequence Ambedkarite political struggle which is based upon social justice and equality is seen to be supportive of communal Hindutva politics. Ambedkarite-Bahujan politics which rejects the hierarchical religious philosophy and authority of vedas is seen alongside preachers of the same socio-religious order and communal parties.
Dhruv Rathee “the so-called saviour of democracy” also ended up falling prey to incomplete and false analysis, in his video, he claims BSP as B-team drawing conclusions from this report. Such a narrative is not just promoted by ordinary opinion makers but backed up by INC itself, as Supriya Srinate the chairperson social media and digital platforms of INC tweeted: “In Maharashtra, Prakash Ambedkar’s VBA and Owaisi’s AIMIM won 6 seats for BJP. VBA and AIMIM have got more votes than the margin of victory on these seats. Of these, work was done to convert the victory of Congress on 1 and Shiv Sena (Uddhav Thackeray) on 5 into defeat. Otherwise Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) would have won not 31 but 37 out of 48 Lok Sabha seats in Maharashtra. And BJP+ would have been reduced to 11 seats, not 17!
• BJP’s trouble solver Mayawati ji in UP
• Prakash Ambedkar ji and Owaisi ji in Maharashtra”
(Originally in Hindi translated by me)
One more instance is worth noting here, initially India Alliance were seen to be supporting Chandrashekhar Azad ‘Ravan’ in Nagina constituency of Uttar Pradesh. However it came as a shock when the India alliance declared their candidate. Later it was revealed that the alliance wanted him to contest under their party symbol, not under the banner of Azad Samaj Party (ASP). This step poses various questions- why can they not support autonomous or independent political representation of Dalits, why do they disregard or hate independent Bahujan politics, why is it that only Bahujan-Ambedkarite political parties are kept under a microscope?
Savarna (upper castes) either INC supporters or BJP supporters both find it hard to accept independent Bahujan representation and political agency of its own. It is another way through which caste is manifested and reproduced, this labelling when Bahujan political parties decide to contest independently comes from the notion that they can not defeat BJP independently. Labelling BSP in a certain way also stems from caste patriarchy, Mayawati’s strong and firm stand against both the ideologies may be intolerant to casteist minds who are still trying to imagine a Dalit- woman to be helpless and without agency. For them a Dalit-woman leading a party is hard to digest.
Quest for Autonomy and Agency
This imperative on Bahujan Ambedkarite political parties to join the alliance or support INC undermines Bahujan’s agency and autonomy. Bahujans have fought hard to reclaim human dignity and autonomy from the shackles of religious philosophy and hierarchical social order. However, the mainstream Indian Politics is still guided by social laws. The savarnas tend to be in the saviour complex, whether it’s saving the democracy or quest for social justice is often seen to be in the hands of liberal savarnas of Congress and the unity, nationalism and progress is seen to be in the hands of ethno-national savarnas of BJP. What I try to depict is that both the ideologies tend to neglect, misrepresent and disregard independent Bahujan-Ambedkarite political agents. Almost all Bahujan political parties contest under this social pressure to perform or in the anxiety of being ready to be labelled as B-team of communal party and even if in this pressure they gain seats they are labelied as doing vote bank and caste politics.
What I try to present should not be misunderstood as I support dormant and inactive participation of BSP in the political sphere but I have highlighted question marks upon BSP and this imperative upon Bahujan politicians to join hands with either INC or BJP. It’s Ambedkarite-Bahujan political parties who popularized the Constitution among common masses, Bahujans have been the first who have stood to save the Constitution. Even though the INC appealed harder to save the Constitution this time, but it is BSP rallies where the Constitution was in the hands of the commons.
I would conclude with reply from Prakash Ambedkar of Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi (VBA)
“Bahujans need to understand that both the BJP and Congress are two sides of the same coin. BJP does not hide its agenda and outrightly propagates its hateful divisive agenda. Congress hides its true agenda; they smile, lure the Bahujans in their traps to feed on them. Once the Bahujans have been trapped, they reveal their poisonous fangs.
BJP is naagnaath and Congress is saanpnaath.”
Jatin Mathur, a social anthropologist and Sociology Master’s student at Delhi School of Economics, DU. Author of personal development blog named The odd angle. Passionate about advocacy and public speaking. To contact him email- Jatin.mathur003@gmail.com
His blog link- https://teamoddangle.blogspot.com/2022/06/discrimination-diaries-stories-of.html
