Caste pot stirred in poll-bound Punjab

Tribune News Service

Ruchika M Khanna

Chandigarh, February 7

It has taken 40 years since the first movement to consolidate the largest population group in Punjab — the Dalits — to come out of the shadows of the dominant Sikh and Hindu upper castes and be handed over the reins of a ruling party to lead it into a multi-cornered election.

Not homogeneous group in state

Dalit doesn’t exist as homogeneous category in Punjab. Thus, caste will not be sole criterion for making a choice for them in these elections. — Dr Pramod Kumar, Director, IDC

Acceptance in upper castes

Even upper castes have accepted Channi’s leadership, especially after his counter-offensive against PM Modi, post his Ferozepur rally debacle. — Des Raj Kali, AAP Leader

The enthusiasm of a Dalit face being selected to lead the Congress is palpable in Doaba, even as it has had some impact in Malwa and Majha. This is because for the first time since 1981, the caste pot has been stirred in the state and attempt to consolidate the 39 sub-castes of Dalits is being made.

It was in December 1981 that DS4 — Dalit Shoshit Samaj Sangharsh Samiti — was formed. Its founder Kanshi Ram is widely quoted as saying DS4’s objective is to organise Bahujan voters and prepare them for politics so that they can take up leadership roles. The DS4 later became a parent party for the BSP, but it took 15 years for the party to taste power, when in 1996, three of its representatives were elected as MPs.

But its political fortunes in Punjab never paralleled. The reason, say political observers, was the BSP increasingly became representative of just one group of Dalits — the Ravidassias (Charanjit Singh Channi too is from the same caste) — while other major groups — Mazhabis (30% of Dalits), Ad Dharmis (11%), Valmikis (10%), Rai Sikhs (6%) and remaining 19% of other sub-castes were left out. As a result, the consolidation never happened and the Dalit vote bank was often split. “Even this time, it will only be a consolidation of Ravidassia/Ramdassia votes. This is because Dalit as a homogeneous category does not exist in Punjab,” reasons Dr Pramod Kumar, director, Institute of Development and Communication.

This, however, is denied by writer Des Raj Kali, who has been chronicling the Dalit movement in Punjab. “Even the upper castes have accepted his leadership, especially after his counter-offensive against PM Modi, post his Ferozepur rally debacle.”

The voting pattern of the Dalits in the past four elections — two each General and Assembly since 2014 — based on the data by a Delhi-based research group from select districts of Doaba and Puadh shows Hindu Dalits have always preferred the Congress (58% preferred in 2019), while Sikh Dalits have remained almost equally split between the Congress and Akali-BJP.

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