BJP activates Dalit outreach strategy for 2027 UP polls
With an eye on regaining ground among Dalit voters, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has launched an intensive outreach campaign across Uttar Pradesh targeting the Scheduled Caste (SC) community. The move is part of the party's broader strategy to consolidate its support base ahead of the 2026 panchayat elections and the 2027 state assembly contest. State general secretary (organisation) of the party is reaching out to the party's SC leaders and community members across the state (Sourced)
State general secretary (organisation) Dharampal Singh is spearheading the party's outreach strategy, engaging directly with Dalit leaders, office-bearers and workers through a series of district-level dialogues titled 'Anusoochit Jaati Samvad' (Dialogue with SC community).
Since May, Singh has travelled to over 10 districts, including Ayodhya, Bulandshahr, Unnao, Chitrakoot, Lalitpur, Jhansi, Agra, Azamgarh, Gorakhpur and Kushinagar, holding meetings that are being positioned as more than routine political events.
'All party leaders of the SC cell, office-bearers and grassroots workers are attending these sessions. They are briefed about various schemes and steps taken by the BJP government for the uplift of the Scheduled Caste community,' a senior BJP leader said.
Participants are also being trained to mobilise support at the local level and inform community members about government initiatives, he added.
The Samajwadi Party and Congress have come under frequent criticism during these meetings. At a gathering in Unnao on May 15, Singh urged participants to recall how Congress had 'conspired to defeat Babasaheb Ambedkar' in parliamentary elections.
Dr B R Ambedkar had lost both his Lok Sabha elections, first in 1952 from Bombay North-Central, and again in a 1954 bypoll from Bhandara in Vidarbha.
'Highlight the difference in approach between the BJP and the opposition. While the BJP promotes respect and welfare of Scheduled Castes, the opposition lacks a development agenda and only spreads misinformation,' Singh has said at multiple events.
The Scheduled Caste population forms around 21% of Uttar Pradesh's electorate, with Jatavs (11.7%), Pasis (3.3%), Valmiks (3.15 %), Gonds, Dhanuks, Khatiks (1.2%) and others (1.6%).
Notably, of U.P's 80 Lok Sabha seats, 17 are reserved for Scheduled Castes. In the 2024 general elections, the BJP's performance saw a decline, winning 33 seats compared to 62 in 2019.
Party insiders attribute the fall in numbers to the shift of SC and OBC voters towards the PDA (Pichhda, Dalit, Alpsankhyak) alliance led by the Samajwadi Party, which secured 37 seats.
Congress won seven seats, while BJP allies Rashtriya Lok Dal and Apna Dal (Soneylal) won two and one seat, respectively. Aazad Samaj Party (Kanshi Ram) also clinched one seat.
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