With Agra being declared a reserved seat for the SC after the delimitation, this was the first time the Dalits got a range of candidates from their own community.
The city has the largest population of Dalits because of the shoe industry. Apart from Jatavs, there is a good presence of voters from Balmiki and Kori communities.
The Jatav movement of 1920 had prepared the ground for the Baba Saheb Ambedkar’s RPI and the BSP here. The BSP founder Kanshiram had also worked here extensively. Currently, the BSP has 34 ward councillors in the 90 seats. Moreover, BJP leader Anjula Singh Mahore, who is also a Dalit, is Agra’s mayor.
But despite its apparent strength, polling trend in the city clearly indicated that the BSP chief and Chief Minister Mayawati is identified with “Jatavs” and not the entire Dalit community.
In fact, there were few takers for her new slogan for making “Dalit ki beti” the country’s prime minister.
“This would further strengthen the political hegemony of the Jatavs,” said Sandeep Balmiki, a young voter at Agra’s Nagla Dhani. “So, this has prompted many voters of my community to oppose the BSP. We prefer to vote for those who would take care of our community.”
According to his friend Anand Balimiki, the Balmiki community is in no position to compete with the Jatavs. They have developed economically because of their association with the shoe industry. And voting for the BSP, he said, means giving more power to Jatavs. “Our vote is for either the SP or the BJP,” he said.
Like Balmikis, most of the Kori community does not want to favor the BSP either. “The Koris lack their own identity in the BSP. I think I will get more respect in any other party. So I will vote for any party other than the BSP,” said Bhagwan Das Kori, a voter at a polling station in Sadar Bhatti Road.
Jatav voters, however, have a different reason to cite for the BSP’s failure to bring the Balmikis and Koris under its banner.
“It difficult to bring all Dalits under one banner as other parties mislead them, they want their own candidate,” said Sunari Lal, a voter in Nagla Dhani area.
What has damaged the BSP prospects further is the circulation of a pamphlet carrying Mayawati’s photographs in the company of the Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi.
“This pamphlet damaged the prospect of the BSP candidate,” said another voter, Shamshad, in Mantola. According to him, on Wednesday night, the BSP candidate had to pay a visit to a Muslim-dominated area of the city to manage the crisis.
Obviously, a tough contest is on between the Kunwar Chand, BJP candidate Ram Shankar and the Samajwadi Party’s Ramji Lal Suman.
