When Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra met Bhim Army chief Chandrashekhar Azad at a Meerut hospital last week, speculations were rife that Congress found a new Dalit ally in the young Ambedkarite leader. Priyanka Gandhi’s move was perceived to be a strategic one to garner Dalit votes and strengthen its caste base in the state. But, Chandrashekhar has made clear that he has no plans to ally with the grand old party that badly needs allies to recover its lost ground in Uttar Pradesh which sends 80 members to the Lok Sabha. Chandrashekhar called Priyanka’s recent visit a ‘courtesy call’ and said they didn’t discuss politics.
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This piece of news will be disheartening for Congress as its last hopes of Dalit consolidation did not fructify. As an emerging young Dalit leader, Chandrashekhar’s support would have been a shot in the arm for Congress in the state where politics is largely driven by caste-based equations. Some analysts interpreted Priyanka’s visit as a tactics to exert pressure on BSP chief Mayawati to take Congress on board. Some argue that Congress wanted to project him as an alternative to Mayawati.
Though Mayawati never reciprocated to the cordial gestures of the Bhim Army leader in the past, Chandrashekhar still hopes to bridge the differences between the two. He says his party is still open for an alliance with BSP and will lend their support to the Mayawati-Akhilesh Yadav alliance for the sake of Dalits. While Chandrashekhar calls Mayawati ‘bua’, she has always maintained a distance from him, calling Bhim Army the 'B team' of BJP.
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Priyanka’s meeting with Chandrashekhar was also significant as he enjoys a considerable support among Dalits in Saharanpur of western Uttar Pradesh. He rose to fame after the UP government arrested him under NSA in connection with caste violence in Saharanpur in 2017. He was released in September 2018. Analysts point out that a possible reason for the reluctance of Dalit outfits to tie up with Congress is because it’s largely seen as a Brahmin party. However, political observers are also unsure of Chandrashekhar’s ability in translating his popularity into votes.
The grand old party realizes that it can’t turn a blind eye to the Dalit community which is a decisive electoral force in the state. Even Priyanka Gandhi's joining active politics hasn’t yielded much results as expected by the party. Though Congress was successful in cobbling together an alliance with Dalit outfits like Mahaan Dal and Jan Adhikar Party, time will say how much can these small parties alter the political equation in the state.
With Mayawati’s latest snub, the party’s last-ditch attempt to get a place in the SP-BSP-RLD combine has hit a hurdle. Though Congress has announced that they will leave seven seats for the alliance, Mayawati has spurned the offer saying they don’t need Congress' help to defeat BJP. The alliance has left two seats for Sonia Gandhi (Rae Bareli) and Rahul Gandhi (Amethi) though.
BJP-led NDA had won 73 of the 80 Lok Sabha seats in Uttar Pradesh in 2014 Lok Sabha elections. As Congress is looking to retrieve its glory, it has to revise its strategies and explore new possibilities to become a force to reckon with in the Hindi heartland.
