Even as Rahul Gandhi intensifies the Congress’s national campaign for a caste census and greater political representation for marginalised groups, deepening discontent within the party’s Madhya Pradesh unit suggests that its own organisational practices are out of step with that message.
Senior Dalit leaders in the State alleged that the Congress is consistently overlooking the Ravidas community — the single largest Scheduled Caste bloc in Madhya Pradesh — despite its overwhelming numerical strength and political relevance.
Madhya Pradesh has nearly 1.30 crore Scheduled Caste citizens, according to the 2011 Census, and an estimated 60 per cent of them belong to the Ravidas community. Yet the party’s recent organisational appointments have bypassed this group once again, renewing questions about whether the Congress can credibly champion caste-based equity nationally while failing to institutionalise representation in its own ranks.
The latest flashpoint came with the appointment of Reena Bourasi Setia as president of the Madhya Pradesh Mahila Congress. Setia belongs to the Pasi community, which comprises roughly 0.5 per cent of the State population — a choice that instantly triggered internal criticism over what many leaders view as a lack of demographic and political alignment. Earlier, the elevation of Yash Ghanghiriya from the Khatik community, roughly 1.5 per cent of the SC population, as State Youth Congress president had invited similar objections.
These decisions, leaders argue, reflect a wider pattern. “The party keeps turning to symbolic appointments instead of empowering the community that forms the backbone of the SC electorate,” said senior Congress leader and MPCC SC Cell president Pradeep Ahirwar, emphasising that the Ravidas community has repeatedly produced capable leadership at the national level, including figures such as Chandrashekhar and Mayawati. He added that the Congress’s internal architecture remains “structurally misaligned” with the social realities it claims to represent.
Ahirwar further said, “By overlooking the Ravidas community, how can we think of coming to power in Madhya Pradesh.”
The BJP, meanwhile, has moved in the opposite direction, steadily consolidating its outreach among Dalit groups through visible organisational and governmental representation. The party has positioned Jagdish Deora as deputy chief minister, given Cabinet space to Dilip Ahirwar and Gautam Tentwal, and elevated leaders such as Prabhuram Chaudhary and Prabhuram Jatav within its organisational hierarchy.
Lal Singh Arya heads the BJP’s national SC wing, reinforcing the perception that the ruling party has invested more deliberately in representation politics.
Political observers say the contrast is becoming increasingly stark: while the Congress speaks of caste enumeration as an instrument of social justice, its own leadership pipeline in Madhya Pradesh appears fragmented, exclusionary and disconnected from the realities of a changing electorate. With caste consolidation emerging as a potent political force in the State, the Congress now faces a critical test — whether it can realign its organisation with its national rhetoric or risk alienating a community whose support has been central to its social coalition for decades.
Madhya Pradesh has nearly 1.30 crore Scheduled Caste citizens, according to the 2011 Census