New Delhi: Fifty-eight-year-old Charanjit Singh Channi took oath as the new chief minister of Punjab Monday after Amarinder Singh’s resignation last week.
Channi, a three-time MLA, is a Dalit Sikh leader. With Channi’s appointment, the Congress is expecting a major fillip to its prospects in Dalit belts in the run-up to the 2022 assembly elections.
As Dalit politics takes centre stage ahead of the assembly polls in five states early next year, ThePrint looks at the past Dalit CMs of India.
Bhola Paswan Shastri
It was in 1968 that Bihar got its first Dalit chief minister. Bhola Paswan Shastri, an Indian freedom fighter who was born in the Purnia district of Bihar, represented the Jatav community in the state.
He was sworn in as the chief minister of Bihar on 22 March 1968, but his term lasted only for three months as the Congress lost the majority in the Bihar assembly.
This was followed by mid-term assembly polls. Shastri went to become the CM again in 1969. This time his tenure lasted only for 13 days. He became the chief minister for the third time in 1971 and served for seven months.
Ram Sundar Das
Ram Sundar Das, a Dalit leader who rose from the grassroots and joined the Congress, became the second Dalit CM of Bihar.
During the 1977 Bihar Legislative Assembly election, when the Congress was defeated by the Janata Dal, Das won from Sonpur assembly seat. A Dalit leader, two-time MP from Hajipur Loksabha seat, and later a close aide of Bihar CM Nitish Kumar, Das died in 2015 at the age of 95.
Nitish Kumar had said Das’ demise is a big loss for the party, Bihar and him personally.
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Jitan Ram Manjhi
In May 2014, following JD(U)’s poor performance in the Lok sabha election, Nitish Kumar resigned as the Bihar CM, taking moral responsibility for his party’s debacle.
But he brought in a low profile Mahadalit face — Jitan Ram Manjhi — as his successor.
Manjhi, a six-time MLA, was the minister for SC/ST welfare in Nitish’s cabinet. Manjhi, who belongs to the Mushahar community, which comprises two per cent of the state electorate, was sworn as the 23rd chief minister of Bihar.
Manjhi, who was once a clerk, played a significant role in the state’s backward class political discourse, with stints with the Congress, Rashtriya Janata Dal and JD(U).
Mayawati
Born in a middle-class Dalit family in New Delhi, Mayawati went on to become the first female Dalit chief minister of Uttar Pradesh, in June 1995. Her term, however, ended within four months.
Within a decade, she emerged as the tallest Dalit leader in the country. The BSP supremo led her party to a sensation triumph in 2007 UP assembly election when it got absolute majority with 206 seats in the 403-member assembly. This was the first time that the BSP won the majority on its own since its inception.
In 2007, Mayawati took oath as the chief minister for the fourth time. She went to create history by becoming the first chief minister of Uttar Pradesh to complete the five-year term. None of the previous Cms could complete their five-year terms, be it V.P. Singh, Mulayam Sinh Yadav, Kayaln Singh, or Kamalapati Tripathi.
Also read: UP 2022 do-or-die not just for Mayawati or BSP, but for the idea of ‘mainstream’ Dalit party
Damodaram Sanjeevaiah
In the late-1960s, the Congress party formed policies and welfare schemes to woo the Dalits and weaker sections. To consolidate support among SCs and OBCs, Damodaram Sanjeevaiah was made the Andhra Pradesh CM in 1960. The first Dalit CM of the state, his term ended within two years.
He was also elected as the first Dalit President of the All India Congress Committee (AICC) in 1962. Known for his political strategy and administrative skills, he also served as the Minister of Labour and Employment in the Lal Bahadur Shastri cabinet between 1964-1966.
Sushil Kumar Shinde
Sushil Kumar Shinde, a former sub-inspector and son of a cobbler, went on to become the 22nd chief minister and first Dalit CM of Maharashtra, in 2003. A year later, after the Congress-NCP won the 2004 Assembly elections, Vilasrao Deshmukh was picked as CM.
A Gandhi family loyalist, Shinde won four Maharashtra assembly elections — in 1978, 1980, 1985, and 1990. He was also appointed as the Governor of Andhra Pradesh in 2004.
Later, he became a part of the Manmohan Singh cabinet as Union power minister in 2006 and Union home minister in 2012.
Jagannath Pahadia
Born into a Dalit family in Bharatpur district of Rajasthan, Congress leader Jagannath Pahadia won four Lok Sabha elections and was elected as a member of the legislative assembly in 1980, 1985, 1999 and 2003. In 1980, he was sworn as the first Dalit chief minister of Rajasthan. His term, however, ended within a year.
He succumbed to Covid this year at the age of 89.
During his long political career, he also served as the governor of Haryana and Bihar.
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