The social and political fates of India’s Dalits offer a contrasting picture. Dalits, not necessarily a homogenous entity, form one of the most deprived communities in the country with poor metrics in employment and education. They suffer a high incidence of multidimensional poverty as well as embedded discrimination. Contrastingly — and here lies the irony — they form a crucial political bloc that has been known to make or break the electoral fortunes of political outfits. Consider the recent assembly election in Haryana where the Bharatiya Janata Party triumphed against all odds and pipped the Congress to the post. Post-election analyses have attributed the BJP’s unexpected victory to its able mobilisation of underprivileged social groups that neutralised the inroads made by the Congress among Jats, Haryana’s dominant social constituency. This also explains such recent phenomena as the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh chief, Mohan Bhagwat, making placatory noises in favour of Dalits or the BJP deciding to indulge in the tokenism of forming its government in Haryana on Valmiki Jayanti. The BJP is hoping to play its Dalit card in the upcoming polls, especially in Maharashtra where the Marathas are said to be cut up with it.

The Opposition, especially the Congress, has only tasted sporadic success when it comes to aligning itself with Dalit communities. One such instance was in the last general election where the Opposition’s allegation of the Narendra Modi government tinkering with reservations and the Constitution did upset the BJP’s electoral kitty. In recent times, the Congress under Rahul Gandhi has repeatedly attempted to voice the concerns that confront India’s underprivileged people. But the fact remains that the Congress has not been able to build a broader solidarity across caste lines that can reap benefits in elections. Other parties that claim to represent the Dalits, the Bahujan Samaj Party in Uttar Pradesh is one example, have also failed to realise the aspirations of the community. The BJP though has bucked the trend, seamlessly fusing a wider fraternity among Dalits, other backward castes and its core support base of upper castes under the ideological umbrella of Hindutva to score political points. A similar strategy that can balance conflicting, competitive caste interests continues to elude the Opposition. But the Dalits’ identification with the BJP has not led to an improvement in their lives. All social and economic indices point in that direction. Such is the perverse power of religious polarisation.