Since Ramnath Kovind belongs to UP, his nomination will have a major impact on the state, which has a decisive 22 percent dalit population.

Before the 2014 Lok Sabha polls, BJP had made serious attempts to make inroads into the dalit vote bank, which had been monopolized by Mayawati’s BSP. These efforts, especially by Narendra Modi, paid rich dividends, which saw substantial dalit votes flowing in favour of the party in the Lok Sabha polls. Modi also established direct contact with prominent dalit leaders within the party, calling upon the community to join the party and enjoy being a part of governance. The party succeed to retain this support in the 2017 assembly polls also, which helped the party claim 325 assembly seats.

Mayawati also does not want to be seen opposing a dalit becoming president; that is why she announced that her party could support Kovind. Mayawati herself became chief minister four times, thanks to the clout she enjoyed as the undisputed leader of dalits, but she realizes that the inroads being made by BJP could cut into her vote share in the next Lok Sabha elections as well. Her party had to be contented with just 19 seats in the assembly elections. The emergence of Bhim Sena and other organizations working for dalit causes under young leaders like Chandrashekhar Ravan and others is another cause of worry for her.

The BJP move will also affect Samajwadi Party, which is why Mulayam Singh Yadav lost no time in announcing support for Kovind’s selection. He also attended the dinner with PM Modi in Lucknow on the eve of the World Yoga Day. The dinner was hosted by chief minister Yogi Aditya Nath, who invited all the opposition leaders to the event, but only Mulayam Singh Yadav was present. All other leaders, including his own son Akhilesh Yadav, boycotted it.

Congress also cannot escape the impact of the new development as the party ruled the state for several decades with the support of Brahmins, Muslims and dalits. But Congress lost the support of the dalits to BSP whose leader Kanshi Ram through his continuous struggle managed to wean away the majority of scheduled caste and schedules tribes population by promising them a share in power. Rahul Gandhi tried to play the dalit card by giving away party tickets in the all the reserved constituencies to Samajwadi Party in 2017 polls, but could not make any headway. Congress also projected PL Punia, MP, who had been chairman of Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe Commission as the main face during assembly polls but nothing worked out as the party lost in all the reserved constituencies. So much so Punia’s son also lost in Barabanki.

For Uttar Pradesh BJP, the welcome political upshot is that the earlier talk of forming anti-BJP front in the wake of the assembly elections in the state with the participation of Samajwadi Party, BSP and the Congress, is gone and both the SP and the BSP are finding ways to meet the BJP’s strategy of further consolidating its position among the dalits in the state. BSP leader Mayawati must have talked with her close associates and got the feedback. She has to keep her dalit base intact and she perhaps is of the view that by not opposing Kovind for the President’s position, she will be able to keep her flock together. This is a big challenge to the BSP supremo after her setback in the recent assembly elections.

As regards SP, the party leadership was already divided at the time of the assembly elections and now, following the announcement of support by Mulayam Singh Yadav to the BJP nominee, Akhilesh Yadav is facing a big problem in keeping the SP united. The young workers of SP are with Akhilesh and he is confident of rebuilding the SP after his party’s defeat in the assembly elections. But this Kovind issue has again created big dilemma for him as he is determined to fight BJP in Uttar Pradesh at all costs. Akhilesh has consulted his dalit leaders and he is trying to assess the impact of the BJP decision on Presidential nominee on the dalit base of his party in the state. (IPA Service)