HVK Archives: Strange Bedfellows in Uttar Pradesh
Strange Bedfellows in Uttar Pradesh - The Times of India
Meenakshi Jain
()
25 September 1996
Title : Strange Bedfellows in Uttar Pradesh
Author : Meenakshi Jain
Publication : The Times of India
Date : September 25, 1996
Alliances are the order of the day in the Hindi heart-
land. The virulently anti-suvarna Bahujan Samaj Party is
now lined up with the Congress; the mutually antagonistic
Mulayam Singh, Ajit Singh and Mahendra Singh Tikait are
on a newly discovered fraternity trip. What conclusion
is one to draw?
For one, the upper castes are out of hibernation. Brah-
min-baiting is no longer profitable business. Sarv Samaj
has replaced anti-manuvad as the slogan of the day. For
another, there's an attempt to revive the agricultural
castes coalition that first took shape in 1967 when OBCs
cut their strings with the Congress and embarked on an
independent political career.
For almost three decades now, OBCs have been a formidable
factor in the north Indian countryside. But the chinks
in their armour are now at the fore. The agricultural
castes were never a monolith. There were always sharp
gradations among them, marked differences in social and
economic standing. At the top was the creamy layer,
comprising Jats, Yadavs and Kurmis; below them the Haj-
jams, Nais, Dhanuks, Telis, et al, hovering just above
the poverty line. These were two really disparate groups
clubbed into one.
Benefits Cornered
When the movement for peasant empowerment began, those at
the apex of the OBC hierarchy cornered all the benefits:
plum political posts, co-operative loans, subsidised
seeds, fertilisers, and whatever else was on offer. The
lower OBCs were left out in the cold.
This was not an oversight. The OBC ideologue, Choudhary
Charan Singh, was clear that the revolution he sired was
for the advancement of the upper agricultural castes
alone. All his schemes for land reforms favoured the
locally dominant landed proprietors who, according to the
1971 agricultural census, constituted approximately one-
third of the landholding classes and controlled about 70
per cent of the land. He steadfastly refused to take up
the cause of the marginal farmers and the landless.
Charan Singh envisioned the revolution stopping midway.
After power had been transferred to the upper OBCS,
status quo was to prevail in the countryside. The twice-
born castes thrust aside, the lower orders tucked away,
the upper OBCs were to hold undisputed sway.
So the first round went to the Jats and their
comrades-in-arms, Yadavs and Kurmis. But this was just
the beginning. Soon after Charan Singh's death, Yadavs
refused to play second fiddle to the Jats. After all,
they were the most numerous of the upper agricultural
castes and by then sufficiently prosperous to claim the
top slot for themselves. So Mulayam Singh Yadav entered
the arena.
To consolidate the Yadav position, he played a deft game.
He strenuously cultivated Dalits and Muslims by present-
ing himself as the messiah of the,downtrodden. He would
purge the land of the twice-born castes, he promised, and
establish for ever the rule of the deprived classes.
Violent attacks on the upper castes followed.
But rhetoric and caste wars could not conceal for ever
the fact that the government he headed was an exclusively
Yadav affair with the allied groups merely serving as
props. Soon enough, Dalits upset the Yadav apple-cart.
Fresh Bid
Today, the agricultural caste coalition has splintered
and there is a rush to fill the vacuum. The coming
together of the Samajwadi Party, the Bharatiya Kisan
Kamgar Union and Ajit Singh, former allies-turned-foes-
turned-allies, represents a fresh bid to restore the old
Jat-Yadav predominance. Muslims are being wooed as
substitutes for the disenchanted lower OBCS. The BSP is
equally determined to put the Dalits on top, and to that
end is courting the upper and most backward castes. The
old animosities have been thrown to the winds.
In caste terms, the Bharatiya Janata Party's stance is
the least combative. It seeks power for a broad-based
coalition, including upper castes, sections of dominant
castes, lower OBCs and Dalits. This is not surprising.
A unified Hindu society is high on its agenda. For many
years now it has been playing the role of honest broker
among the various caste groups. Its alliance with the
Samata Party in Bihar is indicative of the direction in
which it is moving.
The path ahead is tortuous, but a new ruling coalition
can transform Indian politics. Many vexatious problems
will become that much less taxing. Minorityism for one
will be reduced to a minority issue.
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