With electoral fortunes of the Bahujan Samaj Party floundering and its Dalit vote bank seemingly up for grabs, the death anniversary of Dalit ideologue and party founder Kanshi Ram on October 9 is set to be a big event. All major political parties are tripping over each other in launching programmes for Dalit outreach on the day.

The ruling BJP, Congress and Samajwadi Party have announced programmes to observe the death anniversary of Kanshi Ram.

The BJP will send out nearly 40,300 Dalit NaMo Mitras —100 in each of the 403 assembly segments of Uttar Pradesh — to enlist community support for six mega Dalit meets that the ruling party has planned across the state this month.

These six outreach campaigns are part of the BJP’s plans to up its Dalit connect in the state. The strategies of the Congress and the Samajwadi Party are similar as both are eyeing BSP’s Dalit voters.

Since the 2014 Lok Sabha polls, non-Jatav Dalit voters had started veering towards the BJP. Barring a minor blip when the Dalit community backed the Congress-supported SP candidate in the recently-held Ghosi bypoll, the Dalit support has continued for the BJP. The BSP did not contest the by-elections.

The BJP, which is in the middle of a ‘basti sampark’ (Dalit localities connect) campaign, is looking at these six meetings to ensure that the Dalit vote bank stays true to the saffron party. BJP’s SC/ST wing chief Ram Chandra Kannaujia confirmed that NaMo Mitras (influentials or intellectuals from among the community) have been tasked with mobilising maximum community support.

“We have approached Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath for these six Dalit meets and depending on his availability, we will announce the dates of these meets,” he said.

The Congress proposes to start a ‘Dalit Gaurav Samvad’ from October 9, while SP chief Akhilesh Yadav, after unveiling a statue of Kanshi Ram in Rae Bareli in April, is now preparing a fresh round of community connect. In these meets, the party is focused on ensuring maximum representation from most of the Dalit sub-castes, including Jatavs, which BSP chief Mayawati hails from.

The Congress has announced the launch of a ‘Dalit Gaurav Samvad’ throughout Uttar Pradesh on October 9, in its attempt to wrest back the support of Dalits and most backward classes (MBCs) in the state

“The Samajwadi party will observe Kanshi Ram’s death anniversary across the state, and the main event will be held in Lucknow,” Samajwadi Ambedkar Vahini president Mithai Lal Bharati said.

The Ambedkar Vahini in itself is the party’s newest frontal organisation that was founded in 2021 ahead of the UP assembly elections for Dalit and MBC outreach. Bharati is its first president.

The BSP will also mobilise supporters for the 2024 Lok Sabha elections by organising a series of programmes and workers’ conferences across the state on October 9. The BSP chief will pay tributes to Kanshi Ram in a programme to be organised at her residence in Lucknow.

Party workers from Lucknow and neighbouring districts will assemble at the Kanshi Ram memorial to pay tributes to the leader.

A separate programme will be organised at Kanshi Ram Prerna Kendra in Noida. A BSP leader said that the party would organise conferences in all the districts. The BSP has already organised meetings in all the 403 assembly segments and 75 districts to mobilise workers. The ideals of the party founder and his call for the political empowerment of the deprived community would be highlighted in the conferences, he added.

Of the 17 reserved seats among the 80 Lok Sabha seats in Uttar Pradesh, the SP had won 10 in 2009, while the Congress, BJP and BSP had to be content with two seats each and the Rashtriya Lok Dal won one. In 2014, the BJP won all 17 of these and five years later in 2019, it maintained its hold on the reserved seats by winning 15 (along with its ally Apna Dal), with BSP winning two. Now, with the 2024 Lok Sabha polls approaching, the BJP is looking at these meets as a strategic exercise to showcase how much has been done for Dalits by the double-engine BJP government at the Centre and in Uttar Pradesh.