Karnataka boasts of 23 percent population of Dalits, but the Dalit led party BSP could only win one seat and its percentage share is 0.04. The Dalit votes get divided not only in Karnataka but also in Tripura where the Dalit constitute 17 percent of the total population. The story becomes tragic when it comes to Punjab which has 35 percent of the Dalit population.

Across the country, the Dalits are disenfranchised as they do not have the party apparatus and party organisation to take advantage of their sheer numbers. Forget numbers, the Dalits are perhaps the only community at this moment in India which can mobilise for their rights and their movement.

That is the reason a party structure is very important and equally important is the movement that backs that party structure. It has been said that the Dalits of their own cannot come to power and this is far from the truth. The electoral history of India has it that the Dalits of their own have won seats. The welcome sign from the Karnataka is the election of Mahesh Anna, who gave up his good job to serve the movement and he won. Anna has a tremendous power to mobilise the people on the ground and particularly young people.

One should make a note of the patience, perseverance and commitment of Mr.N.Mahesh, a newly elected BSP MLA in Karnataka. Mr.Mahesh started contesting an election on BSP ticket from 2004 elections. He lost three successive elections in 2004 (got 19,075 votes), 2008 (got 25,505 votes), 2013 (got 37,209 votes) It took 10 years for him to become a runner-up in 2013 elections. He now after 15 years of electoral battle (2018) won with the thumping majority from the same constituency where he was defeated three times. Had he joined mainstream upper-caste dominated parties, he would have easily become the MLA.

Such a man like Mahesh Anna, education, savvy, and committed has the potential to become an influential figure in politics if the community mobilises politically around such people. There are many committed people like Mahesh Anna all over the country and their commitment to the movement is a lifetime.

Dalits have no reasons to celebrate whichever party wins in Karnataka as ultimately they are kept aside from the power. The state of Karnataka was itself a glaring example of such a treatment to the senior Congress politician, Mallikarjuna Kharge, who was kept away from the post of the Chief Ministership when the Congress party won the elections last time.

The formula that is coming into being has been always there clear and visible. A strong national party of Dalits (like BSP, to take an example) can ally with the regional parties with a strong negotiation to become the decisive player in the state as well as national politics. Saheb Kanshiram always sought after such alliances instead of running after the big centrist parties. He allied with SP in UP. In J and K, he allied with National Conference and so on. But in order to do that the national party must be in a position to speak in terms of numbers and loyalty of its vote bank.

It is not far in the future to see a rising national level party in India. The caste equations favour the Dalits throughout India if they stand united and mobilise with one political structure. As it appears, the leadership of the BSP is failing miserably to gain power and advantage out of such a huge mobilisation.

Author – Mangesh Dahiwale, Human Rights Activist

Image – Mahesh Anna with Saheb Kanshi Ram