Last week, when former Bahujan Samaj Party leader Brijesh Pathak joined the BJP, he explained that as a Brahmin, he would help consolidate the upper-caste vote base behind the party in his areas of influence. The pensive faces around him — those of BJP president Amit Shah and Union Minister Mahesh Sharma — however, told a different story.
The BJP is worried that Dalit communities (especially non-Jatavs) which voted for the party in huge numbers in 2014, helping it win all of the 17 reserved seats in the State, may desert the party in the Assembly elections in the aftermath of the furore over cow vigilantism and the targeting of community members.
The party has drawn up an elaborate plan to reach out to the community through its own leaders, especially MPs who have won these reserved seats, not only in Uttar Pradesh but also from other States. The first phase of the programme will extend from September 1 to 10, wherein each MP will cover five Assembly constituencies, while the rest will be done in the next phase, for which dates are yet to be decided.
“There are 85 Assembly constituencies that are reserved, and the 17 MPs of the BJP who have won on reserved seats have been asked to undertake outreach programmes, including public meetings, visits, education about the government’s policies like the Mudra Yojana and Ujjwala that best exemplify its philosophy of sabka saath sabka vikas [everyone’s support, development for all],” said a senior office-bearer involved in the preparations.
“We have identified at least 304 Assembly constituencies where Dalit votes are significant, and, all these areas will also be covered. There are six months to go to the polls,” the office-bearer of the party said.
“We have also got in touch with six other MPs, also elected on reserved seats [from other States], who will be joining the programme. They are BJP MPs from Madhya Pradesh Virendra Khatik and Bhagirath, Rajasthan MP Manoj Radauria, Haryana MP Ratan Lal Kataria and Bihar MPs Janak Ram and Chhedi Lal,” the source said.
The programme has been put together after the Dhamma Chetana Yatra, which was intended to appeal to neo-Buddhists, failed to take off in the aftermath of Dalit atrocities in Una and objectionable statements made by BJP leader Dayashankar Singh against BSP chief Mayawati.