Central Hyderabad now has a 125-feet-tall bronze statue of B.R. Ambedkar just yards away from the recently inaugurated Dr. B.R. Ambedkar Secretariat. While Telangana Chief Minister K. Chandrashekar Rao inaugurated the statue on Ambedkar Jayanti near the Hussain Sagar Lake, an event for which Dalits from all the 119 Assembly constituencies in the State were invited, the Municipal Administration and Urban Development Minister K.T. Rama Rao unveiled a shorter version of the statue in another part of the city.
By unveiling the statue, which is the tallest of Ambedkars in the country, and by building a new Secretariat in the name of Ambedkar, which is sprawled over 28 acres with the Ashoka Emblem placed at the main dome at a height of 265 feet, the Bharat Rashtra Samiti (BRS) has made it clear that it is attempting to swing Dalit votes in its favour as the State is set to go to the polls later this year. These initiatives are part of its outreach to Dalits over the last few years. In 2021, for instance, the Telangana government launched the Dalit Bandhu Scheme, which provides a one-time capital grant of ₹10 lakh to Scheduled Caste (SC) families to start their own businesses or entrepreneurial ventures.
There is a significant SC population in Telangana. The Samagra Kutumba Survey of 2014 had shown that 17.48% of the population of Telangana is SC. In 13 of the 32 districts in the State, the SC population is higher than 20%. In Mancherial district, which has three Assembly constituencies, the SC population is 26%. The 2011 Census data had pegged the SC population at 15.45%.
A decade ago, Mr. Rao had promised a Dalit Chief Minister if his party came to power. That promise was forgotten after his decisive victory in 2014. While Dr. T. Rajaiah, hailing from the Madiga community, was sworn in as Deputy Chief Minister, he was sacked even before the government completed a year. From then until now, the Telangana Rashtra Samiti, which is now called the BRS, has been wooing the Dalits every now and then. The party won 13 of the 19 seats reserved for SCs in the State in the 2014 Assembly election; this number went up to 16 in 2018.
As the Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) have been trying to mobilise the Other Backward Classes (OBCs), who comprise some 29% of the population, the TRS is seeing a churn in its vote share and is therefore now focused on the Dalit vote. The BJP is using religious symbolism to attract the OBCs. The party has sought the support of the Munnuru Kapu community, which is economically and culturally powerful, and the Mudirajus, given the understanding that other dominant OBCs such as the Gouds and Yadavs are tilting towards the TRS. The Congress, which is rejuvenated after the success of the Bharat Jodo Yatra, is also eyeing the OBC votes. Congress leader Rahul Gandhi has called for a caste census. It is this fear of a vote shift that has forced the hand of the BRS leadership.
The change in engagement with the SCs may also have to do something with the BRS’s wish to expand its footprint in neighbouring Maharashtra. Mr. Rao invited Prakash Ambedkar, the grandson of B.R. Ambedkar, who has a significant following in Maharashtra, for the inauguration.
These pro-Dalit moves are especially a change from a year ago when Mr. Rao came under attack for disrespecting the community. After the Union Budget was presented in 2022, Mr. Rao had stressed the need for drafting a new Constitution. He said the text was unable to meet expectations even after 75 years of Independence and that successive governments in Delhi had whittled down the powers of States instead of bolstering them. These comments evoked sharp reactions from Opposition parties. The Congress alleged that the Chief Minister’s views reflected his disrespect towards Ambedkar. Bahujan Samaj Party convener and retired IPS officer R.S. Praveen Kumar said the statement “exposes a deeper conspiracy to erase all the safeguards guaranteed to the minorities and weaker sections.” And some Dalit organisations asked Mr. Rao to tender an apology and withdraw his comments.
On the other hand, during the inauguration of the new Secretariat Complex, the Chief Minister said “Ambedkar’s message for the development of all sections is a big inspiration to the State government... [His] vision of enshrining Article 3 in the Constitution helped the creation of Telangana.”
