New Delhi: The 2024 Lok Sabha election results have breathed new life into political parties like the Samajwadi Party while pushing others, such as the Bahujan Samaj Party, further into troubled waters. While Uttar Pradesh has thrown many surprises in this election, it would be simplistic to describe the rise of Chandrashekhar Azad to prominence as just another surprise.
The victory of Bhim Army chief and co-founder of the Aazad Samaj Party from the Nagina Lok Sabha constituency, by a margin almost identical to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s in Varanasi, signals a clear shift in Dalit voters’ preference in terms of who their future leader will be. For decades,Mayawati occupied that space, but her party’s vote share has depleted in both assembly and Lok Sabha elections.
Her armchair approach stands in stark contrast to Chandrashekhar’s, who is known as a street-fighter, a trait that has made him popular among the youth. However, Chandrashekhar never targets Mayawati in his rally speeches or media interviews, focusing instead on Dr BR Ambedkar, Kanshi Ram, the Constitution, and the rights and dignity of people from the Dalit community.
Notably, Chandrashekhar wasn’t seen as a serious challenge to Mayawati. His entry into Lok Sabha, which coincides with the absence of the BSP,pitchforks him into this space.
And that is why Chandrashekhar Azad is ThePrint’s Newsmaker of the Week.
Power-packed victory
Azad won the Nagina Lok Sabha seat by more than 1.5 lakh votes. His vote share was 51.18 percent, compared to 36 percent polled by BJP’s Om Kumar. BSP candidate Surendra Pal Singh came fourth with only 1.33 percent of votes, losing his deposit.
But Azad didn’t just break Mayawati’s stronghold on Dalit voters. Even Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav’s PDA—Pichhda (backward classes), Dalit, Alpsankhyak (minorities)—formula, which was successful in about half of UP’s Lok Sabha seats, came a cropper in Nagina. Azad mobilised Dalit and Muslim voters, resulting in the Samajwadi Party candidate, Manoj Kumar, managing only 10.2 percent of votes. The Nagina constituency has 20 percent Dalits, including a large number of Jatavs considered to be Mayawati’s core vote base. The constituency’s Muslim population is about 40 percent.
Azad was not part of the INDIA bloc; alliance talks with Akhilesh Yadav had failed. He was also his party’s only candidate in this election. Moreover, Azad was imprisoned several times, including for participating in the anti-CAA protests.
Amid all this, his victory marks the emergence of a new leader among the marginalised section of society after Mayawati.
Earlier, Azad was known by his last name, Ravan, but dropped it before the 2019 elections, saying he did not want the elections to be polarised between Ram and Ravan supporters. Azad founded the Bhim Army in 2014, and his organisation runs several schools for marginalised children in West UP. In 2016, Dalits put up a board at the entrance of his village, Ghadkauli, saying: “Da Great Chamar, Dr Bhimrao Ambedkar Village.”
UP’s new political leader
Azad’s win in Nagina is highly significant because until 2009, it was part of the Bijnor Lok Sabha seat, from where Mayawati won the election and entered the Lok Sabha in 1989. Interestingly, after delimitation, when Nagina was carved out of Bijnor in 2009, people chose different parties in every election.
But Mayawati distancing herself from the masses gave the Dalit community an opportunity to turn towards a new face. Azad not only capitalised on this but also worked hard on the ground for several years. He fought for Dalits on the ground and stayed in Nagina for the last year. Now he is a new challenger for Mayawati.
The 37-year-old Azad, a resident of Saharanpur, not only made Nagina his karmabhoomi (workplace) but also engaged in a new kind of symbolic politics by associating Mayawati’s political guru, Kanshi Ram, who is highly respected among Dalits, with the name of his party — Aazad Samaj Party-Kanshi Ram.
He came into the limelight in 2017 when charges under the National Security Act (NSA) was imposed on him for allegedly inciting caste-based violence in Saharanpur, resulting in a year-long imprisonment. After his release, he remained vocal against violence against Dalits and participated in many demonstrations, including anti-CAA protests and protests against the demolition of the Ravidas Mandir in Delhi. He was also shot at in UP’s Deoband last June. This year, the Centre accorded him ‘Y plus’ security.
His popularity and following increased through these events, especially among youth who have significantly contributed to his political rise. His influence among the youth is evident from the fact that many have his photo as their mobile wallpaper.
During my election visit to Nagina, it was clearly visible on the ground how Azad had influenced a large population in his favour. There was anger among Dalits against Mayawati for not raising their issues as Azad had been doing.
This election is crucial for Azad and his party because he had lost the 2022 assembly elections from Gorakhpur against Yogi Adityanath, securing only 4,501 votes and losing his deposit. But the equations that Azad made on the ground this time also show his political acumen.
Azad created a formidable equation by combining Dalits and Muslims, which neither the BJP nor the SP had a counter to. Although the Samajwadi Party had the unanimous support of Muslims in UP, the community chose to go with Azad in Nagina.
“The Muslim community voted as much as the Dalits did. I will not be able to repay this favour in my entire life,” Azad said after his victory.
Door-to-door, Constitution, Dalit-Muslim unity
Azad’s politics differ from other leaders in many senses. He engages in assertive politics and leaves a wide impact among the public with his tone and tenor. However, his influence has been limited to specific pockets of Western Uttar Pradesh, unable to expand its base.
He made many attempts to join the BSP and praised Mayawati, but she did not pay much attention to him. However, the way Azad won the election by conducting a door-to-door campaign, making the constitution an issue, and mobilising Dalits and Muslims will definitely increase restlessness in Mayawati’s camp.
To woo muslims, he conducted roadshows and door-to-door campaigns in Muslim settlements of Nagina. Also, many BSP leaders joined his party before the election, which dented the BSP’s ground-level support.
For many years in Uttar Pradesh, It was said that there is a vacuum in Dalit politics. Azad’s victory can be seen as a step towards filling that vacuum.
The challenge before him will be how he makes inroads in India’s largest state with a large population of Dalits, and what kind of new equations he creates in the future for wider acceptance.
Views are personal.
(Edited by Prashant)