Even as the agitation against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act is completing two months, the Bahujan Samaj Party is at its wits end to formulate its strategy to position itself as a political formation opposed to the new citizenship law.
The aggressive campaign by the Bharatiya Janata Party, led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi himself, to win over Dalits by telling them that the Dalits from Pakistan and Bangladesh who faced persecution would be the major beneficiaries of the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, has added to the discomfiture of BSP supremo Mayawati.
The BJP move has made Mayawati defensive, as seen in her replacing Danish Ali with Ritesh Pandey, the MP from Ambedkar Nagar, as the party leader in Lok Sabha. She had tweeted: “In order to maintain a social balance, since both the leaders in Lok Sabha and BSP UP unit president Munquad Ali are from the same community, some changes have been made.”
The BSP attempt to maintain a ‘social balance’ and avoid any stereotyping has not gone down well with the Muslim supporters of the party who question why it is okay for two upper caste men to be in high positions but not two Muslims.
The BSP had boycotted the meet convened by the Congress to decide a strategy on the Citizenship (Amendment) Act and the National Register of Citizens. The BSP had argued that lending support to the Congress would hurt the morale of BSP workers in Rajasthan as the grand old party had earlier “poached” some BSP workers.
Calling the CAA “divisive and unconstitutional”, Mayawati directed her party members to protest not with the Congress on the streets but through “posts and mail and by handing over memorandum”.
For the BSP, opposing the CAA and the NRC is a strategic move. When the party abstained from voting on the triple talaq bill and supported the repeal of Article 370 that gave special status to he state of Jammu and Kashmir, the Muslim supporters of the party were angry. Sensing this displeasure, the BSP took steps to gain the trust of the community. First, Mayawati reappointed Danish Ali as BSP leader in the Lok Sabha in November 2019. Then she opposed the CAA and NRC.
The CAA is largely opposed by a section of people in the North-East where the BSP has no political stake. The CAA is opposed largely by the Muslims across the country and regional parties, Congress and Left parties.
At the same time, the BSP also does not want to be seen as aggressively pro-Muslim, which is why it has launched a ‘soft protest’ against the CAA and NRC.
Among the supporters of the BSP, there is already some identification with the BJP’s Hindutva ideology. The campaigns of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh and its allied organisations among various Dalit communities over the years have succeeded in mobilising Hindus against political parties that display a pro-Muslim image.
The BSP’s ‘soft protest’ is also rooted in another concern. Bhim Army chief Chandrashekhar Azad, who is a charismatic leader and has the ability to attract large crowds, has mastered the art of street protests. The BSP is worried that if its supporters come out on the streets, they will become part of his popular protest movement.
A BSP leader said, “Launching a soft protest is not going to help the party. By refusing to lead from the front, Mayawati has lost an important opportunity to project herself as a strong opposition leader. It is Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi who has occupied this space instead.”
He added, “It is true that the BSP has always shied away from participating in mass protest movements. The party will have to revisit that strategy this time.”
A former Muslim MP of the BSP said, “When Kanshi Ram visualised the Bahujan movement in north India, he defined Muslims as one of the constituents of the Bahujan population. Mayawati has tried to form Dalit-Muslim alliances in electoral politics but failed to respond to the aspirations of a larger section of Muslim communities and other social groups who are opposing the CAA and the NRC.”