Bahujan politics
needs a New Radical Alternative
- S R Darapuri, National President, All India
People's Front
Dr. Ambedkar is considered the father of Dalit politics. He raised the
demand for political rights to the Dalits in the Round Table Conferences and
despite Gandhiji's strong opposition, the Dalits got the status of a minority
class and political rights apart from the Hindus, which were announced in the
form of Communal Award. In this, Dalits got the right of separate electorates
to choose their own representatives like other minorities like Sikhs and
Muslims. Gandhiji opposed it by fasting till death by calling it a conspiracy
to divide Hindu society and in the end Dr. Ambedkar had to sign Poona to save
Gandhiji's life. Due to this, instead of separate electorates, the Dalits got
the facility of reserved seats in the legislature, reservation in government
jobs and local bodies and special incentive for education, but the right of
independent politics of the Dalits was snatched away.
Dr. Ambedkar formed the Independent Labour Party (Swatantra Mazdoor
Party) and participated in the Bombay Presidency in the first election of 1937. His main emphasis in this election was on the
issues of the working class. In this they won 15 seats including 3 general seats.
After this he formed the All India Scheduled Castes Federation (SCF) in 1942, whose membership was limited to Dalits only. With
this, he contested elections in 1946 and 1952 but he did not get any special success. Finally,
on October 14, 1956, he dissolved the Federation and founded the
Republican Party of India (RPI). He also framed its constitution.
Now it remains to be seen what was the main vision of Babasaheb behind
forming these parties. Let us first look at Babasaheb's Swatantra Mazdoor
Party. Dr. Ambedkar, in his statement, while explaining the reasons for the
formation of the party and its work, had said- “Keeping in view that today is
not the time to organize parties on the basis of sectarianism. Agreeing with
the wishes of my friends, the name of the party and its program have been made
huge so that political cooperation with other sections of the people can be
possible. The main focus of the party will remain only 15 members of the Dalit castes, but people from other classes will also be
able to join the party. The politics of this party was not casteist but class
and issue based and mainly Dalits were at its centre.
If we look at the purpose and agenda of the All India Scheduled Castes
Federation established by Babasaheb in 1942, it is found that
Dr. Ambedkar had talked about establishing it as a third party to strike a
balance between the ruling Congress and the socialist parties. Its membership
was limited to the Depressed Classes only as it was necessary at that time to
project the interests of the Depressed Classes.
Babasaheb formed the Republican Party of India (RPI) on October 14, 1956, whose main
objective was to create a party that would be according to the promises made in
the constitution and its objective was to fulfill them. He did not want to make
it a party of untouchables only because a party formed in the name of one caste
or class cannot get power. It can only become a pressure group. The main
objectives behind the establishment of the RPI were: (1) To remove inequalities from the social system so that no privileged and
deprived sections remain, (2)
There should be a two-party
system: one is the opposite party in power, (3) Equality before the law and there should be same law for all, (4) establishment of moral values in the society, (5) equal treatment to minority people, (6) sense of humanity which has been lacking in Indian society.
The main goal and objective of the party in the preamble of the party's
constitution was to achieve "Justice, Liberty, Equality and
Fraternity". The program of the party was very wide. Babasaheb's objective
behind the establishment of the party was that minority people, poor Muslims,
poor Christians, poor and lower caste Sikhs and untouchables of weaker
sections, people of backward castes, people of primitive castes, end of
exploitation, seeking justice and progress. May all the people of India unite
under one flag and stand against the capitalists and defend the Constitution and
their rights.” - (Dalit Politics and Organization - Bhagwan Das)
It is clear from the above description that the objective of the
political parties founded by Babasaheb was to create a multi-class party which
could include Dalits, Backward, Muslims, Workers and Peasants. The agenda of
the party was also made on the issues of these sections. The agenda of his
parties was not casteist at all.
Now if we look at the current Dalit politics, then politics in the name
of Bahujan comes to the fore. Its main father is Kanshi Ram. Kanshi Ram's
concept of Bahujan was from an alliance of Dalit, Muslim and other backward
castes whom he considered to be 85%
of the total
population of India and the remaining 15%
as upper castes.
Hence his Bahujan politics is also known as 15 vs 85. His main agenda was
to snatch political power from 15%
of the upper castes.
This formula sounds great but in practice it is not. The leadership in Kanshi
Ram's Bahujan politics was in the hands of the elite people of Dalits, Backward
and Muslims. They used to get tickets on the basis of access/money and by
winning they became ministers, MLAs and MPs. When the government was formed, it
was they who used to take maximum advantage of it. Common Dalits, OBCs
and Muslims were only the voters who voted vigorously in the hope that their
problems would be resolved if the government was formed. But even after the
formation of the BSP government four times, there was no improvement in their
material conditions.
The main objective of Bahujan politics was to either capture or share
political power. Its policies or agenda were not to replace the policies or
agenda of the politics of the present exploiting class. Although Kanshi Ram had
given the slogan of change of system, but when he came to power, he did not do
anything for it. In fact, he had no alternative policies or agenda of his own
which would uplift the common man (Dalit, Backward or Minority or others). The
pivot of Bahujan politics was the section of the Depressed Classes who entered
government jobs, whose biggest issue was reservation. Therefore, the main
agenda of Bahujan politics was also reservation, promotion and good posting
etc. Land allotment, employment, education, health and freedom from oppression
were not in his agenda for the common Dalit. With Mayawati becoming the Chief
Minister four times, they were emotionally appeased and there was some
reduction in harassment too, but there was no major change in their condition.
In fact, Bahujan politics had no capacity to fight Hindutva and pro-corporate
politics and it was bound to decline.
In comparison to Kanshi Ram's Bahujan politics, if Dr. Ambedkar's
politics is seen, then at its centre were poor Dalits, poor backward, poor
Muslims, labourers and poor farmers. Babasaheb in his Agra speech had expressed
deep concern over the landlessness of the Dalits and talked about fighting for
getting them land. His aim was to unite these people under the banner of one
party and fight for their constitutional rights by raising them against the capitalists
and Brahmanism. The main goal of Kanshi Ram was to get power by any means, for
which he also took three-time support from the staunch anti-Dalit BJP, due to
which Bahujan politics got confused and headed towards its downfall.
Babasaheb had created the Republican Party of India as a big platform in
which apart from the Dalits, people from other sections could also participate.
Through this, Babasaheb was creating an alternative politics in which the
common man was at the centre. The main objective of the party was to create a
party which is according to the promises made in the constitution and its
objective is to fulfil them. Initially, when the party worked towards these
objectives and agenda, it also got very good success in the elections of 1962
and 1967. It also led a huge land movement in 1964-65, which led to the
allotment of land to the Dalits. Later this party got divided due to personal
interest of some leaders, behind which Congress had a big hand. Congress broke
its leaders with the lure of post and now it is divided into many pieces and is
ineffective. Nowadays the leaders of Dalit parties also keep changing parties
like this for personal gains.
At present, the main representative of Bahujan politics is considered to
be the Bahujan Samaj Party. Apart from this, there is Ramdas Athawale's RPI (A)
in Maharashtra and Ram Vilas Paswan's Lok Janshakti Party in Bihar which has
alliance with BJP. The agenda of all these parties is only to get power or
share in power. They have no policy or agenda different from the ruling party
BJP or Congress. That is why they cannot compete with BJP's Hindutva and
pro-corporate politics. In these parties, democracy is replaced by
authoritarianism and the leadership is in the hands of one person. There is no
interference of common man in this. That is why their leaders make alliances
with anyone for personal gain, which does not benefit the common man. Dr.
Ambedkar had said that political power is the key to all problems. He had
further said that political power should be used for the development of the
society but the conduct of leaders of Bahujan politics is completely opposite.
Therefore, in view of the above circumstances, in place of the present
Bahujan politics, there is a need to develop a new politics of Dalits,
backwards and minorities, whose policies and agenda are against the Hindutva
and corporate politics of BJP and the attack of global capital. For this,
alternative policies like making employment a fundamental right, making
education universal, improving health services, stopping privatization, making
agriculture profitable, allotting land to the landless, ending corporate
monopoly, restoration of democracy, ending black laws and the need for
secularism etc. Along with this, democratization of society in which the
destruction of caste is prominent also needs to be implemented. The present
politics of caste is the promoter of Hindutva itself. Therefore, instead of
this, the politics of public issues should be adopted.
Keeping this need of Bahujan politics in view, we formed the All India
People's Front in 2013. In the leadership of
this party, prominence has been given to Dalits, Adivasis, minorities, most
backward and women. Its main goal is to give an embodiment of the concept of
Begumpura of Sant Ravidas. This party is in favour of secularism and democracy.
Our effort is to create a multi-class party so that intellectuals, social
workers and parties of different ideologies can be included in it and with their
help the attack of Hindutva and
corporate backed BJP/RSS and the
totalitarianism of financial capital can be stopped. It should be remembered
that in the absence of alternative policies and agenda, the present Bahujan
politics has failed miserably in this. Therefore, now Bahujan politics needs a
new radical alternative.
Let us together honestly build a multi-class politics that can withstand
the onslaught of BJP's Hindutva, pro-corporate politics and global finance capital
and can fulfill Dr. Ambedkar's dream of establishing a casteless and classless
society.
