The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) could face a tough fight in the 2024 general elections with the Opposition’s announcement of the INDIA alliance. While the INDIA bloc looks formidable, the absence of major Dalit parties in it could raise doubts about its credentials in promoting the agenda of social justice. The Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi (VCK) from Tamil Nadu is the only party in the alliance that represents the political concerns of Dalits.
Dalit politics: rise and decline
The Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes comprise around 25% of India’s population. In conventional social discourse, Dalits and Adivasis are often identified as the poorest people, surviving in precarious socioeconomic conditions. In contrast to such stereotypes, B.R. Ambedkar envisaged socially deprived groups as the robust claimants of sociopolitical rights, ready to engage in democratic processes as a dignified aspirational class. Acknowledging these demands, the newly independent nation offered safeguards and policy frameworks to ensure their participation in the new institutions of the state. However, significant public institutions and major capitalist assets were still dominated by the social elites. It was in response to this status quo that independent political parties such as the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) in Uttar Pradesh and the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) in Bihar/Jharkhand were formed, to become keen claimants of political power.
