Karnataka: Love for Dalits in time of polls, will it work?

Bengaluru: Will the strategy of state BJP president B.S.Yeddyurappa to visit Dalit colonies to have food with the oppressed classes and his move to invite Dalits to ‘pankti bhojana’  benefit him politically in the 2018 Assembly elections?

In fact, visiting Dalit colonies and having food with the community members is not something new for the RSS, which initiated this idea to mark the 125th birth anniversary of Dalit icon Dr B.R. Ambedkar. It had even sent its cadre to invite Dalits for ‘pankti bhojana’. The BJP worked on this concept on similar lines but it became a controversy after the opposition alleged that saffron party leaders had brought food from outside (a hotel) and consumed it in a  Dalit colony in Tumakuru.

Yeddyurappa is well aware of the fact that without drawing the SC/STs into the party fold, it would be well nigh impossible for him to seize power from the Congress and become CM in 2018.

Soon after he assumed charge as BJP state president, he started inviting SC/ST leaders to the party fold. He has also given chances to SC/ST leaders to sit on the  dais at party programmes in a bid to shed the BJP’s perceived preference for the upper castes and recently made it compulsory that SC/ST leaders should be present on the dais at any party programme.

The Nanjangud shock-where senior Dalit leader and BJP candidate Srinivasprasad was trounced by the Congress candidate in a reserved constituency, has only made the former CM speed up his efforts to get the Dalits on his side.

The new trend of having food with the Dalits in SC/ST colonies during his drought tour in the districts, is part of this tactic to woo the largest community in Karnataka with a population of over 1 crore.

The question however remains if his sudden love for the Dalits will annoy his biggest support base-the upper caste Lingayats-who have stood by the BJP all these years.

Speaking to Deccan Chronicle, Yeddyurappa loyalist and Udupi-Chikkamagaluru BJP MP, Shobha Karandlaje said, “inspite of government schemes and those meant for the SC/STs, the caste system still prevails in rural areas.

Dalits are not included in the mainstream because of the caste system. Consuming food in Dalit colonies is not new for Yeddyurappa, in fact, he has been visiting Dalit colonies and working with them for the last 40 years.

Now, the Bharatiya Janata Party has decided to celebrate the 125th birth anniversary of Dr Ambedkar by visiting Dalit colonies and taking food with them.

During our visit to these colonies in Bagalkot on Tuesday, the inhabitants were delighted and mingled with us consuming food with our leaders,” she said.

“The caste system had pretty strong roots in Bagalkot but after Yeddyurappa started visiting Dalit colonies in the district, the scenario has changed, Dalits have gained the confidence to interact with party leaders. Our initiative of visiting Dalit colonies will continue till April 14, 2018 (the birth anniversary of Ambedkar). With these visits, we can also get acquainted with the ground reality and the hardship facing by SC/STs,” Ms Karandlaje explained.

The MP claimed that her party had given adequate representation to SC/STs. “Both at the national and state level, the party has accommodated more SC/ST leaders in the organisation and has been able to reach out to Dalits,” she added.