The alleged derogatory statement of yoga guru Ramdev about Dalit community could cause damage to the poll prospects of BJP in at least two lok Sabha Constituencies in Uttarakhand. Dalit community is in sizeable proportions in Haridwar and Nainital-Udham Singh Nagar parliamentary seats and leaders of Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) and Congress are hoping that Ramdev's utterances would swing the voters of Dalit community in their favour.
Ramdev, who is openly supporting Bharatiya Janata Party's Prime Ministerial candidate Narendra Modi, made the controversial remark in lucknow on April 25 and is facing ire of Dalit community since then. Ramdev remarked, “Had he (Rahul) married a Dalit girl, who knows, he might have become the PM. Sonia says first become the PM and then bring a foreigner as bride. He goes to Dalit houses to have picnics and honeymoon.”
The remark of Ramdev opened a Pandora's Box and strong protests were registered from all over the country. A worried BJP distanced itself form the statement of Ramdev as a slew of First Information Reports (FIRs) were filed against him across the country. The Congress and BSP were quick to latch on the issue and blamed Ramdev for his anti-Dalit stance. Ramdev sought apology from the community and said that he was misquoted.
The effect of Ramdev's controversial statement created ripples in Uttarakhand -- the State where his commercial, social and academic activities are based. The BSP took strong exception on his anti-Dalit stance. BSP Supermo Mayawati raised the issue in her rallies on Friday and said that such statements show the real character of Ramdev and BJP. The State-in-charge of BSP Nathu Singh said that Dalit community of the State is outraged at such a derogatory remark. He claimed that Ramdev's statement has caused consolidation of
The Congress is also brow-beating Ramdev and BJP on the controversial statement as Dalit community forms more than 20 per cent of the total electorate in Haridwar and Nainital. In Haridwar there are about 3.50 lakh Dalit voters while in Nainital their number is about 3.0 lakhs.
Ridding on the Modi wave and his projection as belonging to backward community, the BJP was hoping to make significant inroads in the Dalit vote bank this time, but Ramdev's statement has perhaps damaged its plans and the party is now in damage control mode. However, it remains to be seen which party out of BSP and Congress gets the electoral benefit of Ramdev's controversial utterance.