Is Rahul Gandhi’s Bahujan outreach a challenge to BJP’s subaltern Hindutva?

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi’s remarks in Raebareli are seen as an attempt to extend a hand to Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) leader Mayawati to join the I.N.D.I.A. bloc, not only to unify Opposition parties in Uttar Pradesh against the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) but to also send a direct message to Dalit voters, especially the disillusioned youth frustrated by Mayawati’s political inaction.

On February 20, while interacting with Dalit students in his Lok Sabha constituency, Gandhi said, “Ambedkar kept this (discrimination) in mind when he prepared our Constitution....he gave power to the Dalits through the Constitution. Every Dalit in the country is Ambedkar".

The Congress seems to have recognised that dismantling the BJP’s grip on the state requires a formidable alliance, along with the revival of Bahujan ideology, to challenge the rise of subaltern Hindutva. At the same time, Gandhi’s statement was a calculated signal to the Samajwadi Party (SP), reinforcing Congress’ leverage in Opposition negotiations while keeping future tie-ups flexible.

Once a formidable force in UP, the BSP’s political inertia has created a vacuum that the BJP has skilfully filled, integrating the Dalits and the backward castes through a potent mix of cultural revivalism and welfare-driven politics. By calling out Mayawati’s passivity and declaring that “every Dalit is Ambedkar,” Gandhi is making a bold play — urging the Dalit voters to break free from stagnation, and see the Congress as the true champion of their rights.

Since 2014, the BJP’s reshaping of caste identities under Hindutva has eroded the BSP’s traditional voter base. Once a dominant Dalit leader, Mayawati has failed to effectively counter this shift. Aligning with the Opposition bloc could revive her party, but political isolation may hasten its decline. Meanwhile, the Congress must move beyond rhetoric, offering concrete policies and grassroots engagement to regain Dalit support. Gandhi’s remarks signal a strategic bid to reclaim this crucial vote bank.

In the Hindi heartland, the Congress, the BSP, and other caste-centric formations, which once thrived on the identity politics of the Dalits, the Other Backward Classes (OBCs), and the Muslims, are now struggling to maintain their voter bases. The BJP has successfully leveraged religious, cultural, and welfare-driven strategies to integrate these communities, thereby weakening traditional caste-based alliances. This shift marks a departure from the social justice and social engineering politics that emerged post-Mandal, which was once championed by the Congress and later carried forward by regional parties.

During its post-Independence dominance, the Congress upheld social justice through affirmative action and constitutional safeguards for the SCs and the STs. However, its reluctance to fully embrace the Mandal commission’s recommendations in the 1980s created a vacuum that regional parties quickly filled. The implementation of OBC reservations by the V P Singh government in 1990 became a turning point, giving rise to caste-based politics. Parties like the SP, the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD), and Janata Dal (United) (JDU) emerged as champions of OBC empowerment, while the BSP mobilised the Dalits under Kanshi Ram and Mayawati.

The BJP, once perceived as an upper-caste-dominated party, strategically transformed itself to appeal to marginalised communities. This shift gained momentum under Narendra Modi, an OBC leader. The BJP expanded its leadership representation to include non-dominant OBCs, Dalits, and tribals, fielding candidates from communities like Nishads, Rajbhars, Kushwahas, and non-Jatav Dalits, who had felt excluded from the power structures of Mandal-era parties.

The BJP also employed religious and cultural mobilisation to consolidate these groups. Welfare schemes further bolstered the BJP’s standing among marginalised communities. Unlike the earlier model of social justice, which focused on quotas and political representation, the BJP’s approach linked development with identity politics, making even lower-caste groups see it as a party that delivers results.

As a result, the BSP has struggled to retain its core Dalit vote, with non-Jatavs increasingly aligning with the BJP. Similarly, the SP, the RJD, and the JDU, which historically relied on OBC-Muslim unity, have seen their voter bases fragment. The perception that Yadavs dominated OBC-led regional parties further pushed non-Yadav communities into the BJP’s fold, disrupting the once-powerful Mandal-era coalition. One of the most significant casualties of this shift has been the decline of Bahujan consciousness, the foundation of the BSP’s and Mandal-era parties’ politics. 

The idea of a Bahujan identity—uniting the Dalits, the OBCs, and other marginalised communities against upper-caste dominance — has been diluted by the BJP’s Hindutva project. Mayawati’s attempt to broaden the BSP’s base through a Sarvajan strategy, which included the Brahmins, alienated sections of the Bahujan electorate, making the party neither a strong Dalit force nor a successful catch-all party. 

On the other hand, the Congress’ ideological confusion — oscillating between soft Hindutva and social justice — has significantly contributed to its decline.

Looking at the performance of three opposition parties in Uttar Pradesh, the BSP still retains a significant vote base, while the Congress remains the weakest player. Ahead of the 2027 UP Assembly elections, the Opposition faces an uphill battle against the BJP’s deeply entrenched subaltern Hindutva. Gandhi’s outreach to the Dalits and Mayawati signals an attempt to reclaim lost ground, but rhetoric alone won’t suffice. To challenge the BJP’s fusion of welfare and identity politics, the Opposition must develop a compelling alternative and a clear ideological framework to counter subaltern Hindutva.

Without strategic alliances and strong grassroots mobilisation, the BJP’s electoral dominance among marginalised communities will only grow.

(Mahendra Kumar Singh is a political commentator and teaches Political Science at DDU Gorakhpur University, Uttar Pradesh. X: @MKSinghGkp.)

Disclaimer: The views expressed above are the author's own. They do not necessarily reflect the views of DH.