How Dalits are a focal point for BJP, Congress in MP

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be in Sagar in Madhya Pradesh on August 12 to lay the foundation stone for a temple dedicated to Dalit icon Ravi Das. This is PM Modi’s second trip to MP after July 1, when he visited Shahdol in the state’s eastern belt. MP goes to polls in November.

Modi will land in Khajuraho and fly to Sagar by helicopter. The proposed temple is to be set up at Badtuma, a village on the outskirts of Sagar. It was announced by chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan some months ago and will be built by the state government.

Ravi Das, a 13th century Bhakti Movement saint, was born near Varanasi in a family of leather workers. He was a social reformer who worked against untouchability and has following in MP, Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat, Rajasthan, Haryana and Punjab.

Political watchers suggest that through the temple construction, the BJP aims to woo the Dalit vote in the state. In the 2018 assembly election, of the 35 Scheduled Caste (SC) reserved seats in the state, the BJP had won 18 while the Congress won 17.

SCs account for around 15.6 per cent of the population in MP, as per the 2011 census, but are present in substantial numbers in the districts of Gwalior Chambal and Bundelkhand, of which Sagar is a part. The two regions together have a higher percentage of SCs among the population.

The BJP has been taking out samrastra rallies with an intention to woo the Dalit vote. Five such rallies were flagged off from various parts of MP on July 25 and would culminate in Sagar on August 11, ahead of the PM’s arrival.

In Bundelkhand, which includes the districts of Sagar, Damoh, Panna, Chhattarpur, Tikamgarh and Niwari, the BJP had won 15 of the total 26 seats in 2018. The Congress won nine seats and the Bahujan Samaj Party and the Samajwadi Party a seat each.

The Congress too has its eyes on the Dalit vote, which has traditionally been with the party. The party had initially planned a public meeting of Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge on August 13 but cancelled it after the PM’s programme was made for August 12. The Congress is yet to announce the new dates for the public meeting. “The BJP government has announced a temple for Ravi Das ji but the temple cannot be completed in three months. After the Congress comes to power in the state, it will build a bigger temple,” said Congress spokesperson K.K. Mishra.

The PM’s programme also includes a public meeting where he is likely to dedicate some more development projects to the nation.

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