As campaigning for the Assembly election in Haryana enters its final phase, the Dalit vote has emerged as the fulcrum around which the fate of the polls hangs, with the BJP banking on its support among not just dominant communities in Dalits, but also non-dominant Scheduled Castes (SCs) as well. The BJP has given non-dominant or Deprived Scheduled Castes (DSC) tickets in nine out of the 17 reserved Assembly seats with Other Scheduled Castes (OSC) getting eight.
ADVERTISEMENT
Haryana is the one State where the Supreme Court’s decision allowing sub-categorisation of SCs was implemented just before the polls got underway. According to sub-classification into two categories by the Haryana State Scheduled Castes Commission for the purpose of reservation in government jobs, there are 36 castes under the DSC category, which include Ad Dharmi, Balmikis, Bazigar, Dhanaks, Bawaria, Mazhabi Sikhs, Khatik among others. The OSC category includes Chamar, Jatia Chamar, Rehgar, Raigar, Ramdasi, Ravidasi, Jatav, Balahi, Batoi, Ramdasia among others.
“We were not so conscious about the sub-categorisation issue during the Lok Sabha, giving tickets for the two reserved seats in the State to OSCs. During the Assembly polls, we have been careful about accommodating DSC category candidates and we hope that voters will see this,” said a senior BJP member involved in backroom strategy for the party in Haryana.
For the BJP, the road to gaining the Dalit vote is not an easy job, with Congress leader Selja too moving towards a rapprochement with former Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda after the Congress high command intervened in the matter. “Before this, when we interacted with Dalit communities, there was a resentment there on behalf of Kumari Selja and how she was being sidelined by the Hoodas,” said a senior leader. “We are now banking on some of that resentment remaining, and also our ticket distribution,” he added.
According to the 2011 Census, SCs account for around 20% of Haryana’s population, important in nearly 47 Assembly seats including the 17 reserved seats. The BJP’s share of this vote bank, however, has been progressively shrinking. In 2014 for example, the BJP won nine out of the 17 reserved Assembly seats, which dropped to five in 2019. “In such a scenario, our ticket distribution has taken into account the sub-categorisation into DSCs and OSCs and we hope that it will help us secure support among these communities,” said the leader.