With elections just around the corner, political parties in Haryana are competing fiercely for the support of Dalit voters. Making up roughly 20% of the votes, they are deemed crucial, leading Congress to not take any risks as they sense a possible win. The return of Dalit leader Ashok Tanwar to the Congress is a significant step for the party in this direction. The Congress made sure that Tanwar joined the party while Rahul Gandhi was present.
Tanwar ran for election against Selja, a Dalit leader from Sirsa, but unfortunately was defeated. Sources indicate that Selja encountered Sonia Gandhi on Thursday and it is believed that the ex-Congress leader approached her to secure her full backing for the party on the crucial voting day of October 5 in order to encourage a high voter turnout among Dalits in favor of the Congress. Indeed, going even further, BJP officials in Haryana, including chief minister Nayab Singh Saini, had been showcasing Tanwar as proof of Dalit success.
The Congress predicts that the Dalits will support them in line with the Lok Sabha voting trend. The Congress received approximately 68% of the Dalit votes, while the Bharatiya Janata Party secured roughly 24%. This is why Rahul Gandhi is advocating for a caste census, asserting that the BJP is stalling it because they are indifferent towards Dalits.
The Congress, in both its seven guarantees and manifesto, has vowed to conduct a caste census and raise the creamy layer for the Other Backward Classes. The BJP has also chosen not to lag behind by committing to provide complete scholarships to OBC and Scheduled Caste students in engineering and medical programs at public universities.
In response to Rahul Gandhi’s narrative about Dalits, the Bahujan Samaj Party has tasked Mayawati’s nephew Akash Anand to highlight that the BSP is the true Dalit party, unlike the Congress which is just focused on elections. This 20% could be the deciding factor. The Congress, at least, is hopeful.