Congress leader Rahul Gandhi is trying to win over Dalit vote bank in Bihar. But in the meantime, Ashok Ram, a big Dalit face in the state, has shocked the party and joined JDU. Rahul will try to recover from this blow. On one hand, Rahul Gandhi is trying to win over Dalit voters for Congress' victory in Bihar elections, while on the other hand, a prominent Dalit leader of the state has left the party. Rahul Gandhi has been trying to bring Dalit voters with him for a long time. During his nearly half a dozen visits to Bihar this year, his focus has been on Dalit voters, but the way former minister and 6-time MLA Dr Ashok Kumar Ram left the party and joined Janata Dal United is a big blow to Congress and Rahul's preparations.
Before leaving Congress, Ashok Ram alleged that Dalits are being ignored in the party, whereas his association with the party has been for nearly four decades. Ashok Ram, who has served as the working president of Congress, was said to be angry with his neglect in the party. It is also being said that he was not getting along well with Krishna Alavaru, the new in-charge of Congress in Bihar.
Relation with a big political family of Bihar
Doctor Ram belongs to a big political family. His father Baleshwar Ram was also a veteran Congress leader. He was an MLA and MP 7 times from 1952 to 1977. Not only this, he was made a state minister in Indira Gandhi’s government. Like his father, Dr. Ashok himself was an MLA 6 times and was made a minister in Rabri Devi’s government in the year 2000. He has been winning elections from the reserved Rosda assembly seat located in Samastipur district.
His departure from the party just before the elections is being considered a big blow for the Congress because he was the Dalit face of the Congress for decades. He strengthened the concept of social justice for the party in the state. But in order to woo Dalit voters, Congress handed over the command of Bihar state to Rajesh Ram instead of Akhilesh Prasad Singh.
He himself wanted to become the Congress President!
It is being told that Dr. Ashok Ram was said to be angry with this decision. He himself wanted to come to this post, but his dream could not be fulfilled. Before Dr. Ram, Bihar minister Ashok Chaudhary was also in Congress, but a few years ago he went to JDU.
Rahul Gandhi has been busy creating an environment for Congress among Dalit voters in Bihar for the last several months. In February, Congress celebrated the 130th birth anniversary of famous Pasi leader Jaglal Chaudhary with great pomp. Rahul Gandhi himself also participated in this program. He made Dalit leader Rajesh Ram the President of Bihar state and another Dalit leader Sushil Pasi the co-in-charge of the party in Bihar, trying to portray the party as a well-wisher of this community.
Rahul engaged in the campaign of Dalit voters
Apart from this, during his Bihar tour in June, Rahul Gandhi went to the village of Mountain Man Dashrath Manjhi to meet his family members. There he also paid his tribute at the Dashrath Manjhi memorial, and also met his son Bhagirath. He also drank coconut water with him. Bhagirath then demanded a permanent house for himself from the Congress leader, and Rahul fulfilled this demand by building a 4 room permanent house for his family. Bhagirath was earlier in Janata Dal United, but now he has joined Congress and he has also demanded a ticket from Rahul to contest elections.
About 19 percent of the population in Bihar is Dalit and once it used to be the traditional vote bank of Congress. But with the passage of time these voters started drifting away. Congress had to bear the brunt and the party could not capture power on its own for more than 3 decades. Now Rahul Gandhi is engaged in an exercise to remove the resentment of Dalit voters and keep them with him.
How important are Dalit voters in Bihar
Dalit voters are important in Bihar because out of the 243 seats in the assembly, 38 seats have been reserved for Scheduled Castes and 2 seats for Scheduled Tribes. In 1990, the vote percentage of Congress here used to be 24.78 percent, which fell to single digit. Even after contesting the last two assembly elections together with the Rashtriya Janata Dal, the Congress could not touch the double digit figure. In 2015, the vote percentage of Congress was 6.7, while in 2020 it improved marginally and became 9.48 percent.
The round of allegations and counter-allegations also continues
After former working president of Bihar Congress Dr. Ashok Kumar Ram left the party and joined Janata Dal United, JDU is claiming that ‘there is a stampede in the Congress. Many leaders of the party are still in touch with us. At the same time, Congress is also attacking Ashok Ram’s allegations. Congress termed him as a ‘high opportunist’ for joining JDU. While Dr. Ram claims that many more leaders from Congress are going to leave the party.
While Congress is accusing Dr Ram of being an opportunist, he is accusing the party of neglecting Dalits. Such allegations have been made during the election season, but while trying to gain a foothold among Dalits, Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi will have to ensure that there is not much division in the party. If he fails to stop the division, it will send a wrong message to Dalit voters and he will have to work hard to make his political ground in Bihar.
Surendra Kumar Verma
Courtesy: Hindi News