Gujarat election 2022: Dalit votes likely to get divided among BJP, Cong and AAP, say political observers
BJP's Atmaram Parmar won the byelection in the constituency. Sociologist Gaurang Jani claimed Dalits in Gujarat are a confused community as far as political affiliation is concerned. They are numerically not as sizable as many other communities and divided further in three sub-castes - Vankar, Rohit and Valimki.
FollowAt around eight per cent of Gujarat's population, Dalits are not a numerically dominant community in the state, but their votes are likely to get divided among the ruling BJP, opposition Congress and the new entrant Aam Aadmi Party in the upcoming Assembly elections, say political observers.
All political parties are trying their best to woo the community, because apart from 13 seats (out of the total 182 in the state) reserved for the Scheduled Castes, Dalit voters can also tilt the scales in a few dozen other seats, they feel.
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While the BJP says it is confident Dalits will vote for it in the state Assembly polls due this year-end, the Congress says it is paying attention to seats with 10 per cent or more Dalit population. The BJP has won a majority of the 13 seats reserved for the Scheduled Castes since 1995.
In 2007 and 2012, it won 11 and 10 of these seats, respectively, while the Congress had won two and three seats. But in 2017, the BJP faltered and managed to win only seven seats, while the Congress won five.
One seat was won by an independent backed by the Congress. One of the Congress MLAs, Pravin Maru from Gadhada, resigned in 2020 and joined the BJP in 2022.
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BJP's Atmaram Parmar won the byelection in the constituency. Sociologist Gaurang Jani claimed Dalits in Gujarat are a confused community as far as political affiliation is concerned. They are numerically not as sizable as many other communities and divided further in three sub-castes - Vankar, Rohit and Valimki.
"They are divided among themselves, with the BJP attracting Vankar, the highest in the stratification. They are more vocal and urban. But Valmiki, which are mainly sanitation workers, are divided," claimed Jani, a retired professor of Gujarat University.
With the new entrant AAP laying claim to the legacy of Dr BR Ambedkar, the community's votes are likely to get divided three ways, said Jani.
"The new generation of the community is confused...The voting pattern of the youth is going to be divided among all the three parties. The division will not benefit any one political party, nor will it benefit the community," he said.
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The BJP has been in power for 27 years. In all the elections that took place in these 27 years, Dalits have equally supported both the BJP and the Congress. The BJP has also taken many initiatives to attract Dalits. Being in power, Dalit leaders were given positions in different bodies, he said.
While attacks on Dalits by the members of dominant upper castes and Other Backward Classes and discrimination are not uncommon in rural Gujarat, the Una incident provided a major issue for the Congress to rally the community on its side.
Dalit activist Jignesh Mevani, who led the protests after the Una incident, won the 2017 election from the Vadgam seat, reserved for the Scheduled Caste candidates, with the Congress's support. Mevani recently announced that he will contest the 2022 election on Congress ticket.
(With inputs from PTI)
