Setting off a buzz in Uttar Pradesh political circles, two senior Dalit leaders of the Congress landed up at BSP chief Mayawati’s residence to meet her Tuesday evening. After the meeting failed to materialise as they reportedly did not have an appointment, the Congress called it a personal visit to enquire after Mayawati’s health, and sent notices to the two – its Scheduled Caste Department national chairman Rajendra Paul Gautam and Congress MP Tanuj Punia.
Incidentally, the episode coincided with senior Congress leader Rahul Gandhi’s visit to his constituency Raebareli where, on Wednesday, he held two Dalit outreach programmes – addressing a ‘Bahujan Swabhiman Sabha’ and inaugurating the statue of freedom fighter Veera Pasi.
Advertisement
While the Congress has an alliance with the Samajwadi Party (SP) in Uttar Pradesh, and SP chief Akhilesh Yadav said Tuesday that their partnership would continue for the 2027 Assembly polls, the ties between the two parties are marked by constant friction. Many Congress leaders who apprehend that the SP won’t share too many seats with the party have been pushing that the Congress strive to unite “like-minded” forces – including the BSP – against the BJP and the Yogi Adityanath government over issues related to the Constitution, Dalits and minorities.
The explanation given by Punia, also the Congress’s SC Department head for Uttar Pradesh, regarding how they came to be at Mayawati’s residence has only fanned the speculation. “There was a meeting at the Congress SC Department office in which Gautam ji and office-bearers were present. During the discussion, Mayawati ji’s health came up. Her residence is nearby, and Gautam ji said that she is a senior Dalit leader of our society and now around 70 years’ old, and so we should go and enquire about her wellbeing. We went without calling beforehand thinking that if she was available, we could meet her… But as we were not given time to meet her, we returned,” Punia said, adding that “there was no other motive”.
Also Read | UP Cabinet expansion eyes 2027 with big bets on OBC, Dalits and a Brahmin face
AICC general secretary, in-charge, Uttar Pradesh, Avinash Pande told The Indian Express: “Their (Gautam and Punia’s) visit had nothing to do with the Congress party or Rahul Gandhi ji. There was no mandate given to them by the party, nor by me as general secretary, in-charge… They have been asked to give an explanation for their conduct.”
Advertisement
Apart from looking at options in UP, where the Congress is struggling to rise from rock bottom, a section of the party believes an alliance with Mayawati will boost the party’s attempts nationwide to consolidate Dalits behind it, with Gandhi spearheading the effort. In the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, a Congress and SP campaign around the issue of “protecting” the Constitution, and by extension Dalit rights, against a dominant BJP had led to surprising gains for the INDIA bloc in UP.
While insisting that Gautam and Punia’s visit to the BSP chief was a courtesy call, a senior Congress leader also spoke of Mayawati’s importance beyond UP. “She is not just a major Dalit leader of the state but of the country… There is a need to bring like-minded forces together against the Yogi Adityanath government over issues concerning Dalits, women and minorities,” the leader said, adding that the BSP’s own weakened position electorally means she needs friends. The BSP won just 1 seat in the 2022 UP Assembly elections, while in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls, it failed to open its account in the state.
Mayawati had put behind bitter acrimony with the SP to align with the party in 2019. However, since then, the BSP chief has said more than once that the party does not gain from such alliances as while her Dalit vote gets transferred to the others, the latter are unable to help the BSP in return.
Having burnt its hands in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls, the BJP too has been trying to woo Dalits back in UP. It has intensified outreach among Dalit and non-Yadav OBC communities through welfare schemes, representation and social engineering. The recent Cabinet revamp also showed this outreach, with two of the six new names Dalits and four OBCs.