It is for the first time in 70 years since independence that a Dalit leader, Mayawati, is also emerging as a contender for India’s top post at the Centre in Delhi. It is also for the first time that a big leader of backward classes from the electorally most crucial state is backing a Dalit for the prime minister’s post. Yes, it’s Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav, who has openly supported the candidature of Bahujan Samaj Party chief Mayawati.
The support for Mayawati isn’t only from the top leadership; common people belonging to backward castes too have mobilized themselves to see Mayawati coronated as the prime minister. In Uttar Pradesh, the combined equation of Dalit-backwards-minority communities wishes to see Mayawati in the PM’s role. Mayawati herself has added fuel to their wishes by indicating that she may contest the Lok Sabha by-election from Ambedkar Nagar “if all things go well”. Even though who finally sits in the Prime Minister’s Office will be decided by the 2019 election results and political equations after that, it’s nevertheless a big deal that a Dalit leader is being seen and spoken about as a contender for the post of prime minister during a Lok Sabha election.
BJP projected Modi as a ‘backward’
Actually, just like the Dalits, others backward classes (OBCs) too have long wished to see an OBC leader sit in the PM’s chair. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) sensed this desire when ahead of the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, the party projected Narendra Modi as an OBC leader and achieved great success.
But while Narendra Modi went on to sit in the Delhi’s chair with the help of the OBCs and an OBC identity, he failed to meet the expectations the community had from him. In fact, Modi, during his tenure, greatly affected the interests of the OBC community.
Also read: Who trolls Mayawati on Twitter and what it says about Indians
From the central cabinet to the PMO, leaders and officials from the backward communities did not get adequate representation. Apart from this, the Modi government ended reservation under the guise of privatisation, and forced the backward communities to question his intent and caste credentials when they faced discrimination in employment opportunities. Modi’s anti-backward image was further accentuated by the roster system controversy for appointments in central universities.
Doubts over Modi being a ‘backward’
Mayawati, Akhilesh Yadav and Rashtriya Janata Dal leader Tejashwi Yadav have repeatedly said that Modi is a “fake OBC” or “an OBC only on paper”. It has also been alleged that Modi is not an OBC by birth and his caste was inducted in the OBC list through manipulation. In the ongoing Lok Sabha election, Modi’s caste has also emerged as an election issue.
Actually, the constant neglect of the OBC communities by the Modi government has led to the formation of this belief among the OBC classes that the BJP has imposed an anti-backward leader as an OBC leader. The OBCs, hurt by this deception, have now turned to Mayawati with a new sense of hope.
The OBC communities realise that Mayawati is a leader belonging to the deprived class and that the Dalit society itself is fighting for their share of representation in the country. The backward castes’ principal fight too is for its share in the power system. And so, the backwards have begun to realise that if both they and the Dalits are fighting the same fight, then they will have to come together for the cause. The backward groups are also figuring out that only Mayawati can raise the issue of backwards’ representation in the power structure because she is already fighting for the cause on her community’s behalf.
Dalits who managed to reach at the top
Dalits ask why a leader from the Dalit community cannot become the prime minister of India — when K.R. Narayanan can become the President, Justice Balakrishnan appointed as the Chief Justice of India, and Babu Jagjivan Ram as the deputy prime minister of India.
Also read: The signalling of Mulayam-Mayawati grand union — water, blessings and the central chair
Crowning moment for Mayawati?
India has been independent for more than 70 years, but still no leader from the community whose share in India’s population is 16.6 per cent has gone on to become the prime minister. A consensus on Mayawati for the post of PM will embolden the trust of the deprived sections and classes in Indian democracy, and further strengthen India’s democratic roots.
At the same time, India would be able to communicate to the global community that India’s democracy is in no way weaker or inferior to the United States’. When the majoritarian US whites can accept Barak Obama — a leader of the black minority community — as their president, then India too can accept Mayawati — a leader from one of the country’s most backward and deprived sections — as the prime minister. By electing Obama as the president, the US’ white community showed their humane side. It is a test now for the savarna (upper caste) community of India. Can India’s upper castes show the same liberality and generosity by supporting Mayawati for the post of India’s prime minister?
The author is the editor of Bharat Janmat, a YouTube channel. Views are personal.
The most stupidest thing i ever read .
Media is obsessed with the fiction called “OBC”. The term is a pure invention. Nobody called anybody backward. It is all self-proclaimed backwardness to secure privileged treatment and corner public resources without making the desired effort.
Please let the PM position be based on Merit. Barack Obama had merit…it doesnt matter who becomes the PM as long as it is on merit . Let a dalit candidate come on merit and whole of India will support him/her . Barack Obama never made his own statues in US. It is foolish to compare . I believe No one becomes intelligent based on birth but to become head of state there should be some merit.
A very stupid article . Advocating caste basis for highest post of country. Merit should be the priority and Modi is meritorious. Mayawati does nt have any merit at all and making her PM will be ruining the country. Whoever has written this is a puppet of break India force
So gross to compare Obama with Mayawati. If Mayawati was similarly talented as Obama , then definitely she would make a great PM.
An insufficient reason to select an individual as Prime Minister. Her four terms as CM of UP have not ended caste discrimination. These are token gestures, okay for purely ceremonial posts. Nor does it cut any ice to say women will be empowered by such a move. Real life is more complex.
Ya let her become the PM, there is nothing left to ruin when the country has already been ruined with Freebies subsidies reservation.