All inclusive strategy

Mayawati moving to the centrestage in the quest for a third alternative is not news. As chief minister of the most populous state she would be at the centrestage in any larger political denouement.

This much was evident during the fall out of the debate on the Indo-US nuclear accord in July last year. She and her party represent an ascending force in politics and it is was all but natural that regional and left wing forces gravitate towards the chief minister of Uttar Pradesh in the quest for power.

What is more telling is the near absence of adequate attention to the issues raised in her statement at a press meet on occasion of her dinner in Delhi for leaders of the Third Front. The document is in itself unusual as her party usually only issues and appeals to the voters on election eve. There is a blend of specific measures under taken in UP with other larger policy stances for the future.

In the post 1989 polity, there have been two major alternatives to the Congress. For the party of Vajpayee and Advani an India first and ‘muscular’ foreign policy has blended with a tough stand on security within. The Mandal based parties gave emphasis to the rural producer, a de-centering of power to the states and to positive discrimination for the Backward Classes.

As is to be expected, Mayawati refers extensively to the Bahujan Samaj. This is an omnibus category, going well beyond Dalits. Its roots after all lie in the term coined by Mahatma Phule in the 19th century in western India where he sought a broad unity against the ‘shetji’ and ‘bhatji’, the merchants and priests who were a small elite group.
It implicitly goes well beyond a narrow focus simply on empowerment of the Dalits.

Phule in fact placed at the centre of his project, betterment via education. He also saw
in women of the Brahmin and other upper caste communities a ready constituency
who too would rebel against the caste based social order. This might explain why he set up a home for Brahmin widows as well as a school for children of the then “untouchable” Mang community.

The non Brahman movements had a taste of power in southern India under the Justice Party as early as the 1920s, but Dalits hardly ever had the right to vote until the coming
of the republican constitution. Unlike other rebels against the caste based order, they were late comers to education. They lacked a bourgeoisie or a substantial land
owning class.

In fact, other than the vote and schooling, what was to create a ready made recruiting base for their best to mobilise and innovate in independent India was another feature of India’s modernity: reservation. Professor AK Verma estimates that one in six households of Dalits in UP for instance has a person in a government job. It was the genius of Kanshi Ram that he welded these employees and other graduates and matriculates into a cohesive and active cadre of a new political party.

A quarter century has passed since then. This detour into history is essential to locate the present denouement of the BSP, where it is consciously trying to evolve a broader based image. Unlike a century and a half ago, India is not only a vibrant democracy, it is one where the poor and the unlettered too have a route to power through the ballot box and the public platform.

To return to Mayawati’s statement, it is secular steps outlined by her that deserve a closer look. The minimum wage has been raised from 58 to 100 rupees and initial reports from the state indicate there is pressure on the ground that the wage is paid fully.  
Similarly, there is slew of steps for scholarships and cycles for women students. These build on previous initiatives and are strikingly similar to what has been a success in Madhya Pradesh in recent years. Both these initiatives, on wages and on women and girl child education are blind to caste, creed and community.

They need to be read with another line, a real give away, that her party hopes to facilitate the growth of ‘capital not capitalists’. The reference is clearly to the crony culture with a large business groups that till recently even owned an airline and had historic associations with the Samajwadi Party.

Whether she makes it to the top or not and via what route is a matter of great interest.
Of equal if not greater significance is how this very process has become part of a larger
history. The coming decade will see this process unfold.

Do not suspend your critical faculties even for a second but mark the moment. It is one that “comes but rarely in history”.

The writer is a  political analyst