The supporting cast in BJP's rise in the heartland

The metamorphosis of the SP in UP and RJD in Bihar into inclusive family-based enterprises created ample opportunities for the BJP to sneak into the caste conundrum

Choudhary Charan Singh projected himself as the undisputed leader of the peasantry from 'Patiala to Patna.' Post Emergency, when he joined Morarji Desai-led government at the Centre, it was widely believed he would hand over the reins of his home state to a fellow Jat from western Uttar Pradesh.

Instead, the former prime minister nominated an MLA from the far east of the state, the Azamgarh district, as the chief minister of UP. Ram Naresh Yadav's selection surprised many. However, the decision rested upon a measured political logic to win the support of the largest cohesive land proprietary caste in north India.

Charan Singh did not need to woo Jats. He already was their leader. In appointing Yadav, Singh was seeking to win the loyalty of others by accommodating social blocks outside his clan.

This dictum seems to have broadly guided the recent reshuffle in the Union council of ministers. Or at least in the representation given to poll-bound states like UP. After the Mandal-Kamandal rupture, the upper castes in Uttar Pradesh are at the core of the BJP's political edifice.

The Brahmins and Rajputs, and Banias may be unhappy with the government's Covid-19 management during the second pandemic wave. Some may have issues with Yogi Adityanath's style of functioning. But will they move substantially away from the BJP to dent the party's prospects in the 2022 Assembly polls? It seems quite unlikely. At least not till there is an alternative political arrangement offering something tangible in lieu.

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The BJP has worked precisely this caste calculus in apportioning ministerial berths from UP.

Of the seven new ministers Prime Minister Modi has appointed, only one is from the upper castes - Lakhimpur Kheri MP Ajay Kumar aka Teni Mishra. His constituency abuts Jitin Prasada's Lok Sabha seat Dhaurahra. For the consumption of the party cadre, the BJP is putting a premium on loyalists over turncoats.

The remaining six ministers are from non-Yadav backward castes and non-Jatav Dalits - the communities that have played the supporting cast in the rise of both the Samajwadi Party and Bahujan Samaj Party.

Take the case of Kaushal Kishore, the Mohanlalgunj MP who started his political career as a communist and is now a minister in the BJP government. He comes from the Pasi community, numerically the second-largest sub-caste amongst Dalits in UP.

Another new appointee, SP Singh Baghel - the Agra MP was a constable in UP police when Mulayam Singh Yadav asked him to contest from Jalesar constituency - a seat that ceased after the 2009 delimitation. After winning three consecutive terms for the Lok Sabha, he switched to the BSP before joining the BJP in 2014. He comes from the shepherd community, which has pockets of influence in western UP.

Bhanu Pratap Singh Verma - the Jalaun MP comes from the Dalit Kori community, his constituency abuts Etawah and other areas of influence of the Samajwadi Party. The remaining three newly appointed ministers from UP are from backward communities- two Kurmis and one Lodha.

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Parties use political patronage to expand their social base. And the BJP, since its ascension in national politics, has optimally utilized its current dominant position to forge new alliances. Its meteoric rise in the heartland politics is also commensurate with a demonstrable inability of the second-generation leadership in the Mandal parties to suitably and equitably accommodate numerically smaller yet aspirational backward castes seeking parity and a larger share in the political pie.

A Mulayam Singh Yadav could win the trust of these communities because he had the political gumption to empower the shepherd community by getting Baghel elected to the Lok Sabha. In making bandit queen Phoolan Devi a Lok Sabha member, he courted the numerous sub-castes of Nishads, or boatmen, who live by water bodies along the Indo-Gangetic plain.

A Kanshi Ram was successful because he nurtured and promoted a strong Pasi leader RK Chowdhary against Kaushal Kishore in Mohanlangunj. Way back in 1989, he could get one Ali Akbar elected from Orai, an assembly segment in Jalaun - whose MP BP Verma is now a minister in the Narendra Modi government.

The metamorphosis of the SP in UP and Rashtriya Janata Dal in Bihar into inclusive family-based enterprises created ample opportunities for the BJP to sneak into the caste conundrum.

In the 2018 Gorakhpur bypolls necessitated by the appointment of Yogi Adityanath as UP CM, the SP fielded Nishad Party leader Sanjay Nishad as its candidate. But the alliance broke down ahead of the 2019 general elections because the Nishad Party reportedly wanted to contest two seats on its symbol.

Compare this with the Bihar assembly polls late last year. Rebuffed by Lalu Yadav, the BJP roped in most of the floating smaller parties- from Jitan Ram Manjhi's Hindustani Awam Morcha to Mukesh Sahni's Vikassheel Insaan Party. Similarly, post the West Bengal Assembly polls, the BJP has been willing to reach out to Nitish Kumar, the Lok Janshakti Party and Anupriya Patel's Apna Dal.

For the SP and RJD, which claim to be the political representatives of the entire OBC block in UP and Bihar, conceding space to smaller caste-based parties translates into a dilution of this overarching backward identity. It's like BJP facing the prospects of a pre-poll alliance with a Brahmin or a Rajput party in these two states.

The first phase of identity politics, beginning in 1989, saw the consolidation of the entire backward block behind the Mandal parties. This camaraderie lasted a decade and a half. In the second phase, many smaller caste groups experimented by floating their sub-regional outfits seeking empowerment and leadership positions. Some of these parties dropped their anchor close to the BJP.

The BJP is winning the heartland because it seems to understands prevailing caste and social undercurrents. Moreover, it has shown both patience and tenacity to exploit caste fault-lines to its advantage.

(Disclaimer: The views expressed above are the authors’ own. They do not necessarily reflect the views of DH)