The ET came up with the headline of this nature after the lection of His Excellency Ram Kovind as the president of Indian republic. He is the second Dalit to officiate this post. His selection shows that the Dalits are not at the periphery or fringes, but they are at the heart of body politic of India. This is remarkable as the history of India is witness to the rise of Dalits and the counter forces trying to co opt the Dalit. It started when the competitive numeral politics started in India in 1937, the year India saw the first elections. The Bahujana is new concept but has a long history starting from its first use by the Buddha when he proclaimed that his teachings are for ‘Bahujana Hitaya, Bahujana Sukhaya‘.

India is ruled by the minority forces controlled by the religious regime which are dominating every single walk of life in India. This must change and it will change only when the Bahujana will have their own power on their own terms to do what they can do for Indians who are numerically a majority oppressed, but divided by the caste and Brahminism.

The Dalits are bound to dominate the Indian politics and dominate they must to make India a true democracy and workable democracy for all. This entails that every Indian must feel that India belongs to them and caste, class, and gender are no barriers to becoming what they can become. Unfortunately, such is not the case and there is still a long way to go.

Being the President of India, HE Ram Kovind is duty bound to protect the constitution that made the poor and marginalised like him to ascend to the highest constitutional post in India. He should respect the constitution above party lines. His duty is to protect the constitution and Indian democracy. We hope that he will come out of his saffron den as he got into this post not only due to Saffron forces, but also non saffron patties have voted him. Ms. Kumar did not win votes in Andhra Pradesh and she got 35 percent votes. It’s an indication that the RSS/BJP has got the unprecedented power that is monolithic.

This power concentration can only be destroyed by the Bahujana ideology, there is no other way. If the Bahujana truly want their Bahumat, they must forge alliances. Mayawati, the inheritor and creator of Bahujana Bahumat must forge ahead and create wider ranging alliances and secure wide ranging possibilities for true democratisation of India.

Author – Mangesh Dahiwale, Human Rights Activist