In villages across UP, the signs of Dalit assertion are unmistakable. In fact the Dalit revolution in UP’s is permanent, jean clad Dalit millennial say our fore fathers had brooms in their hand, we have a smart phone or a lap top. The violence on Dalits at Una, the “institutional murder” of Rohith Vemula, rising atrocity and statement against reservation by RSS leaders Bhagwat and Vaidya have made many educated Dalits acutely conscious that the Hindutva world view has no place for them.

Dronacharya, the Hindu Guru, is for many Dalits a “villain” and they vociferously question the BJP decision to name gurugram after him. “Beyond tokenist gestures like Bhim app, what concrete steps has Modi taken for Dalits”, they ask.

At the same time for many Dalit communities like Khatiks and Dhobis, who have got tickets from the BJP, Modi is a symbol aspiration. The ‘Hindukaran’ of Muzaffarnagar riots of 2013 Dalits participated in the attacks on Muslims, and in 2014, BJP got 24 per cent of Dalit vote while BSP got 14 per cent. A big chunk of BSP vote shifted to BJP in 2014 Lok Sabha polls. Dalits are thus torn between desire to declare their unique identity or to be accepted into temple of Hinduism from where they were barred for centuries.

Mayawati too has always been torn between seizing immediate power for office and the long-term strategy to which Kanshi Ram was committed. Her spectular 200-seat victory in 2007 brought UP the first major government in 17 years but made BSP into yet another political party, rather than the movement it claimed to be.

However, the forces Mayawati represents are real. Obsevers at BSP rallies cannot miss the pumping mood of empowerment and confidence. Dalits angrily defend Ambedkar parks and having political power are amply unwilling to accept secondary status. They are angry at the way Mayawati is lampooned by “brahmical media” and argues that Mayawati’s statutes are no different from leaders who click selfies and pose for madame Tussauds. We are not a crutch for anyone is a dominant sentiment among Dalit, middle class, professionals who still have inordinate sense of pride that a Dalit women was CM. it is a matter of pride. They say when upper caste passed by a Dalit, no longer has to stand up and that his firs are registered, but in Mayawati and politics, she represents more about UP’s past than its future? Is Mayawati being left behind by the social emancipation movement launched by young Dalits. Mayawati plays an old style politics of caste and community, at a time, when Dalits crave a new modern vocabulary when Behanji attempts a Dalit-Muslim alliance by giving more than 100 tickets to Muslims is she attempting a social engineering that can no longer be achieved by the old style , simple 1+1=2 type caste and community arithmetic?

Traditional politics is changing fast. Dalit voices on social media, notably the twitter handle @DalitRising show the young want social justice and a modern equal opportunity agenda. Mayawati provided security but not the economic opportunity and benefits of modern education which they crave. Rural Dalits are lured by offers of Sanskritisation or Hindu status that the Sangh parivar offers them because opportunities are so horribly lacking .

Spending nights with Dalits a la Rahul or spending or lunching with Dalits is a la Amit Shah are only terribly limited tokens. The Dalit revolution is looking for emancipatory equality and a new political vocabulary that expresses their anguish at the brutality discriminatory system. By playing traditional state-community vote-bank politics Mayawati has become imitative of the same political system against which Kanshi Ram roared out his challenge. While Mayawati has been co-opted by the political system, many young Dalits are now turning towards reclaiming a Buddhist identity and many also say that they are angry at compromises Mayawati is making at the corruption charges at her. (IPA Service)