Dalit leader Udit Raj forms anti-Maya platform in UP
Vikas Pathak, Hindustan Times
New Delhi, April 21, 2011
First Published: 23:41 IST(21/4/2011)
With Uttar Pradesh (UP) elections approaching, there are distinct
signs of an attempt from within Dalits to break Mayawati's vote bank.
Earlier this week, Dalit activist Udit Raj floated a platform,
Upekshit Dalit Mahapanchayat, in the state to mobilise support from
Scheduled Castes other than Maya
wati's caste of Jatavs, adding he was open to the idea of the platform
developing into a political party.
Congress leader Ram Nihore Rakesh — a former three-time MP — and
BJP-turned-Congressman former MLA Hari Shankar Kori are its key
founder-members.
The charge of Udit Raj and his associates: Mayawati is working for
Jatavs and not for Dalits, thus deviating from Dalit icon BR
Ambedkar's vision.
"In 2008, Mayawati had announced that her successor would be a Jatav,
thereby throwing out Dalits from her fold. She also attacked other
Dalit leaders on lines of their individual castes, calling me a
Khatik, Bangaru Laxman a Balmiki and Ram Vilas Paswan a Dusadh," Udit
Raj told HT. "She is dividing Dalits instead of uniting them, which
goes against Babasaheb BR Ambedkar's vision." He however hastened to
add that "Ambedkariite Jatavs", too, were welcome in the morcha.
JNU sociologist Vivek Kumar sees this as an exercise at attempting
just to cut votes: "Political parties should not be formed on negative
agendas only. That shows they have nothing to offer and may be propped
by vested interests."
Mayawati's caste of Jatavs constitutes 56 % of the Dalit population in
UP, which is itself 21 % of the state's total population. Among the
remaining 44 % that constitute UP's Dalits, Pasis are the largest
caste adding up to 16 % of the state's Dalit population.
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