Why Ambedkarite politics is losing its autonomy in India
The marginalisation of Ambedkarite electoral politics necessitates serious attention. Ambedkarite electoral politics uses elections as a means to challenge the power and domination of mainstream upper-caste parties, but lacks resources. Such politics, despite having an autonomous vision for the nation, is often reduced to caste-sectarian politics through a casteist gaze. Ironically, B R Ambedkar was unable to win an election in his time. His political significance was advanced in the 1990s by Kanshi Ram. For him, a single transferable vote was an important weapon in electoral democracy to achieve power. However, he was critical of the reserved constituency. Reiterating Ambedkar's views in What Congress and Gandhi have done to the Untouchable, Kanshi Ram argued that a reserved constituency creates 'stooges' in electoral democracy. As the political discourse now again centres on Ambedkar — both the ruling party and the Opposition invoking him on many occasions — it is high time to look at what has gone wrong with Ambedkarite politics in the country.
In the 18th general elections, the presence of Ambedkarite forces declined drastically compared to that of upper-caste parties. In Uttar Pradesh and Maharashtra, where they used to be a formidable force, Dalit parties drew a blank. The BSP's presence has become negligible at the all-India level. Similarly, the Vanchit Bahujan Aaghadi is insignificant in Maharashtra.
Before 2014, the BSP used to get third position in a few states as a pan-Indian party. However, its vote share has declined to 2.07 per cent, leading to its possible loss of national party status. There is a rupture in Dalit leadership. Chandrashekhar Azad seems to be gradually becoming an alternative voice in UP and a few other states. Both these parties together might offer a better future for Ambedkarite politics, but they have been standing against each other, splitting the votes.
Since Independence, Ambedkarite politics was not able to find much space as the representatives in the state assemblies and Parliament are often co-opted by the upper caste political parties. Now, there are only two autonomous Dalit voices in Parliament: Chandrashekhar Azad and Thol. Thirumavalavan. Mallikarjun Kharge's presidency of Congress has pushed the party to embrace Ambedkarite language. On the other side, the Lok Janshakti Party's leader, Chirag Paswan, is mostly found silent when it comes to independently raising Dalit issues.
The problem of caste in Indian politics is reduced to the Dalit question. Parties are happy with giving seats to the reserved constituency, sometimes with a few more portfolios — the President's position and the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment. The upper castes' supremacy in Parliament has never been termed 'casteist politics'. Hence, the annihilation of caste has never been a question. These upper castes are the best allies of the upper class; Ambedkar rightly pointed out that the Brahman-Bania nexus is the core of electoral democracy. At least 93 per cent of the victorious candidates in the last Lok Sabha elections were crorepatis.
However, since 2014, protecting democracy and the Constitution has been the core political vocabulary of Opposition parties. The narrative is created to challenge the BJP's undermining of the values of the Constitution. As a result, Dalit votes shifted to Congress. Why is it only Dalits' burden to protect the Constitution? In 2018, when the BJP tried to dilute the SC/ST Prevention of Atrocities Act, 1989, Dalits protested across states. Around 12 Dalits were killed, several were injured, and many cases were filed against them.
Still, Dalits are always to protect the Indian Constitution through elections and the civil rights movement. But no election is fought to ban caste violence against Dalits. Often, Dalit autonomous parties, or a candidate, are called the B-team of the BJP or the A-team of Congress. Moreover, as long as Dalit votes are used to protect the Indian Constitution, it satisfies the liberal conscience.
Due to this appropriation and misrepresentation, there is a continuous decline in autonomous Ambedkarite politics. Their political autonomy creates a threat to upper-caste parties. If Dalits are to protect the Constitution, they have to find and invoke an autonomous voice beyond the upper-caste — either secular or priestly — domain of politics.
The writer is assistant professor, political science, O P Jindal University. Views are personal
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