How Bhima Koregaon violence poses a major risk to BJP's Dalit politics
It is one thing to prop up an "incidental-Dalit" as the country's president to flaunt faux inclusivity and quite another to challenge upper caste Hindutva authoritarianism. It's one thing to distort political remarks and shed tears about "neech jati" and quite another to crack the whip on caustic rightwing troublemakers whom you revere as your guru.
As Maharashtra descended into chaos following the violence orchestrated by rightwing leaders Sambaji Bhide Guruji and Milind Ekbote during the 200th anniversary celebrations of the Battle of Koregaon, the BJP found itself torn between condemning the rabble-rousers and asserting a pro-Dalit stance to shed the party's label of being an upper-caste party. What seemed easier, obviously, was to keep quiet.
In Maharashtra's history of Dalit versus others, two incidents in the past saw a major shift in political dynamics. Back in early 1980s, the Maratha and Dalit communities indulged in major violence when egged on by his "troubled conscience" former CM Sharad Pawar announced the renaming of Marathwada University as Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar University.
After a 16-year-old campaign - Namantar Andolan - Dalits half-succeeded in renaming Aurangabad's Marathawada University to Dr BR Ambedkar Marathwada University. Pawar though was made to pay for his "altruism" later as he lost the support of the Maratha community even as Shiv Sena, which strictly opposed the renaming move, further strengthened its base. Pawar, who used to enjoy considerable popularity in the area, could never "recuperate" and lost his base among the Marathas. Several attempts to undo the hurt failed as the Namantar Andolan had left the fissures wide open.
In another incident which went on to change the political equations in the state, Mumbai police, back in 1997, opened fire upon residents of Ramabai Ambedkar Nagar in Ghatkopar who were protesting against the desecration of Ambedkar's statue. The police firing claimed as many as 10 lives. The incident led to significant unrest throughout Maharashtra, including rioting and social boycotts against the protesting Dalits.
Although the then Shiv Sena government justified the police action, many couldn't overlook the fact that those in power find it justifiable to use excessive force to muzzle Dalit assertion. This particular incident brought together Dalit groups, including the one led by Prakash Ambedkar and Ramdas Atahawale. The impact of the Ghatkopar incident could be seen in 1998 Lok Sabha elections. Despite riding high on the Ram Mandir issue, the BJP-Shiv Sena combine was brought to its knees by the grand coalition of all republican factions with the Congress and its allies winning 37 of the 48 Lok Sabha seats. Pramod Mahajan too lost his Mumbai North East seat (Ghatkopar East and West Assembly segments fall under Mumbai-North East) due to wide spread anger against the police brutality in Ramabai Ambedkar Nagar. The following year in 1999, the Shiv Sena-BJP lost the Assembly elections in Maharshtra.
Following the latest spate of violence in Maharashtra, many believe the Bhima-Koregaon episode could prove to be chief minister Davendra Fadnavis' Ramabai Nagar moment.
Even though Fadnavis has been patting the back of his government "for not letting the violence go out of hand", the Sena, this time, tore into the BJP government over the violence saying "the only work left [for the BJP] is to fight elections using the government machinery and the police".
While the BJP doesn't have any prominent Dalit face in Maharashtra, the Bhima Koregaon violence, in all likelihood, will only increase the party's dependence on Union minister Ramdas Athavale, who for years was a staunch opponent of the RSS.
The BJP for long has tried to shed its upper-caste label. In 1990s, Parmod Mahajan tried to break the BJP's image of a "shetji bhatji’ (Baniya-Brahman) party with the help of Gopinath Munde by wooing the OBCs. While Munde became the BJP's OBC face, Dalits still remained far away. Dalits, who form around 11 per cent of the population in Maharshtra, have been a solid social block behind the Congress and Pawar's NCP.
After winning the 2014 Assembly elections, the BJP tried its best to bring the Dalits into its fold. It was precisely why Athawale - one of the prominent Dalit faces of Maharashtra - was brought to Rajya Sabha and then made a Union minister. Despite that, Dalit support to the BJP remains elusive. With the latest spate of violence, the BJP will find it harder to decide whether to woo the Dalits or to rile the Marathas, who form about 30 per cent of the state's population.