Identity based politics is a hallmark of the Indian polity. So far the Muslim votebank was the most sought after vote by the Indian politicians. The Muslims too carried a tag with them of voting en masse. Almost every major state has their share in the population in excess of 20%. With a support from one fifth of the voters and a few votes from here and there opened the doors of power for the aspirants in often a tripartite contest. Muslims too voted for those who looked poised to defeat the BJP. The strongest candidate appealed to them the most.
However the Lok Sabha elections of 2014 upset this equation big time. BJP aware of the fact, that it can never ever get a substantial vote from the Muslims started to make inroads in the Dalits and the OBCs.
A rainbow coalition worked for the BJP in 2014 and again in 2017 UP Vidhan Sabha when it received votes from almost every community of the Hindus including the Non Jatav Dalits and the non Yadav OBCs. The growing inroads of the BJP in the Dalit constituency seems to have alarmed the other parties.
There is an increasing attempt to portray the Dalits as the left out segment from the inclusive politics of the Central Government. Earlier Muslims used to be the left out segment in this social imagery.
The desperate attempt to paint the recent ban over sale of cattle from the market as an anti-Dalit move as it goes against their dietary patterns is one such move. There is a flurry of beef festivals by the students belonging to the Ambedkarite thought process across Tamil Nadu and a mark of defiance against this ban.
It looks as if no brain has been put into thinking that this move in no way effects the dietary patterns of Dalits and neither does it bans cattle slaughter. In fact it benefits the animal rearers as it eliminates the middlemen in the form of markets and ensure that those sell diseased animals get traced.
There have been repeated attempts to alienate the Dalits from BJP by circulating news items that make it appear as if BJP is trying to do away with the reservations for the SC/STs.
There is an attempt to consolidate the Dalits against the BJP and add it to the Muslim vote bank in order to orchestrate a winning combination of the DM factor. The logic that has been put in is that Muslims will always stay away from the BJP and Dalits if can be turned against the BJP by using false narratives and imagery will help them in a winning combination.
The modus operandi to achieve it has been the same that is used to turn the Muslims away from the BJP. To create hullaboo against event/events and keep on creating noise about it
Saharanpur riots are being used as Dalits’ 2002 . Mayawati went to Saharanpur and did more harm to the social harmony instead of promoting it which was expected of a four time CM.
A militia, Bhim Army is being portrayed as a Socio political organisation.
This trend will be more harmful to the social fabric of the country if it continues this way.
Enough damage has already been done by the predecessor of this Dalit politics i.e. the Muslim appeasement politics and there is hardly any scope for this newer version of appeasement politics.