After six rounds of intense battle for Uttar Pradesh, the most backward castes (MBCs ) have emerged as the X factor. Hard to impress, difficult to retain, the dozen-odd castes will prove to be decisive in the final outcome. Understanding their mind is only slightly easier than making jaggery, the popular sweet that is offered to every guest with water.
One belt seems swinging in favour of the BJP, the other seems swayed by the Samajwadi Party. And sometimes, the tone gets so satirical that you feel that you are being played. The SP feels buoyed for, last time the Rajbhars, the Nishads, the Nonia Chauhans and the Kashyaps had deserted them. The BJP is trying to hold them by showing them the bulldozer, a symbol of security, and reminding them of the ration that reached them during the pandemic through the conveyor belt connected to the Double Engine.
However, in private, both describe them as blackmailers on whom huge amounts are being splurged so that they remain in good humour, at least till the EVM button is pressed.
Best bargain
There are inherent contradictions in the arguments that members of these castes offer but they don’t care. Their only interest seem to be where they could get the best bargain. For some, getting more share in job reservation is the only road for progress. They feel that the BJP didn’t keep the promises made in 2017 and hence they are headed to the SP alliance. However, there are those, for whom security and welfare schemes are paramount, particularly the housing scheme, where the BJP has delivered well.
For instance, Rajbhars attack the BJP for appropriating their king Suheldev and turn him into Kshatriya. According to legends, Suheldev defeated a Ghaznavaid general. “Why don’t the BJP leadership address him as Suheldev Rajbhar,” asks Ramesh Rajbhar in Nevada village. “Even the stamp the government released in his memory had no mention of Rajbhar.”
SBSP leader Sanjay Rajbhar (left) with SP workers in Gopalpur constituency. | Photo Credit: Special Arrangement
But their leadership talks of “Jo Jaano Woh Mano [believe what you see],” the typical Buddhist and Ambedkarite thought. It is because the SBSP’s top leadership was initiated into politics by Bahujan Samaj Party founder Kanshi Ram. “The mission is to save the Constitution,” said Sanjay Rajbhar, coordinator of the Azamgarh zone of the Suheldev Bharatiya Samaj Party. “We want a caste census and division of OBC bracket of 27% into three layers of 7%, 9% and 11%. Even if we get 2% reservation, it will go a long way in the progress of the community.” He agreed that it would be difficult to negotiate with their new friends, the Yadavs, as they used to get the highest chunk of jobs when the SP was in power. “But the point is, it is better to settle the score between two backwards rather then letting a part of forwards decide for us.”
‘Ploy to earn money’
In the same vein, the lawyer, a close confidant of SBSP founder Omprakash Rajbhar, agreed that his community was notorious for voting for liquor. At the Yogi Aditynanath rally in Jiyanpur, one met several Rajbhars who were rooting for ‘Yogi’s bulldozers’ that were on display. “They are meant for who have squatted on government’s land. The BJP has taken good care of us,” was the common refrain. However, Mr. Rajbhar said it was just a ploy to earn some money in the election season. “As we are a small party, we can’t distribute money. The BJP has looted a lot, let it splurge some of it on those who suffered the most during the pandemic,” he said.
Similarly, the Nishads relate their glorious mention in the Ramayan but have this time rediscovered their icon Phoolan Devi. Chandrika Nishad, an SP post holder in the Dohrighat area reminded it was the Samajwadi Party that sent the dacoit-turned-politician to the Parliament. He said Sanjay Nishad of the Nishad Party who had aligned with the BJP had sold the interests of the community. “Some of our brothers have been confused by the Hindutva agenda” but he said Mukesh Sahni of Bihar’s Vikasheel Insan Party (VIP) is helping them as it has put up candidates that would cut the BJP vote.
The Sonkars, the community of fruit and vegetable sellers who come under Scheduled Castes, have traditionally voted for the BJP but this time there is a section that seemed disillusioned. “I agree we don’t have land but we are dependent on farmers. “If they do well, we will get the right produce and price of the fruits and vegetables we sell,” said Sanjay Sonkar, pradhan of Jameelpur village in Azamgarh.
Interestingly. members of these communities are pained that their leadership failed them. Mr. Sonkar said they supported former MP Neelam Sonkar, who is contesting from the Lalganj seat of Azamgarh but when she was elected MP, the first thing she did was to get the vegetable carts removed from the city roads.
In Itaura Dayal village, the Rajbhars complained of Ram Achal Rajbhar, who has switched from the BSP, for letting them down by ignoring their interests and behaving like “the elite”. Ramnaval Chauhan, who ran a tiny dhaba for daily wagers in the Madhuvan constituency of Mau, said they pushed Dara Chauhan as their representative but he failed to secure the community’s interests. “He was less than ordinary but when he reached the Assembly, he only filled his belly.”
‘Security from extortionists’
Mr. Ramnaval Chauhan said the BJP had provided them security from extortionists. “For the first time, I have seen welfare schemes reaching the poor as they are meant to be. If the government would spend so much on us, there is bound to be some inflation. People don’t notice that the daily wage has also increased,” he said.
It is only Om Prakash Rajbhar who has somehow escaped the criticism of his community. Perhaps, because he left the BJP ship when it was sailing on placid waters. Observers feel it is the Rajbhars who are mobilised the most against the BJP and the SP has done well to give the party 18 seats from its share including the contentious ones like Mau where the SBSP has fielded Abbas Ansari, son of don Mukhtar Ansari, the centerpiece of BJP’s anti-Muslim mafia narrative. The Rajbhars are eloquently defending this newfound bonhomie with Muslims. “When they created trouble, our king Suheldev Rajbhar did their treatment. Today, they are our brothers, who have suffered as much at the hands of the BJP as we have,” said Ram Sutar Rajbhar in Itaura Dayal.
