In Uttar Pradesh, BJP set to step up Dalit outreach amid vote shift in Lok Sabha polls

A lack of connect with the Dalit community at large and an inability to carry its message at the grassroots level were seen as some of the major factors having played a key role in the BJP’s poor show in UP in the elections.

The party leaders have been tasked with focusing on establishing a connect with the community and counter the alleged “lies” of the Opposition, which is also making attempts to reach out to Dalits in the state.

The BJP, which pulled off an impressive show on the 17 Scheduled Castes (SC)-reserved seats in the state in the last two elections, could win only eight this time. In the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, the party won 14 of these seats, its ally Apna Dal secured one while two went to the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP). But this time, the significant chunk went to the Samajwadi Party (7) while the Congress and Chandrashekhar Azad-led Aazad Samaj Party (Kanshi Ram) secured one each. In the last two elections, the BJP was able to consolidate a large section of non-Jatav Dalit votes on most of the seats.

“A lack of coordination, failure to mobilise members of the community and over-confidence of candidates thinking they can win merely on the popularity of (Narendra) Modi and Yogi (Adityanath) ji coupled with anti-incumbency were among some of the major factors. There was a lack on our part and it has to be corrected by us,” said a party leader who was part of the meeting held by Santhosh.

Senior BJP leaders from the community, including state ministers Baby Rani Maurya, Gulab Devi, Asim Arun and Dinesh Khatik, besides party office-bearers were instructed to reach out to their respective sub-communities and do the course correction to do away with the “misconceptions being spread by the Opposition”, sources said.

Attributing the electoral loss to a “bigger conspiracy at play”, Ram Chandra Kanaujia, BJP’s SC Morcha head in UP, admitted that there might have been some mistakes on part of the party. “Galti hui hai…Hum unke paas jayenge aur apni galati sudharenge (There were some mistakes on our part. We will reach out to the community and expose the lies of the Opposition,” he added.

“The expectations were very high and the party leadership felt let down. But let me assure you that our vote bank has not shifted. They became complacent because of the misinformation being spread by the Opposition about the Constitution etc. We will also inform the community about the steps taken for their welfare both at the Center and the state level,” Kanaujia claimed.

On the Congress’s Dalit outreach programme in the state, he said, “Their lies have been exposed and will not work any longer.”