By giving the slogan of crossing 400, BJP had made the Lok Sabha elections one-sided. At the same time, by raising the issue of constitution and reservation, the opposition broke BJP’s dream of crossing 400. Let us know how the constitution and reservation played an important role in this entire election and the Dalit votes got scattered from BJP.
Story: Nitya
Edit: Sushma Tomar.
Post-election analyses of the 2024 Lok Sabha results have shown a fundamental shift in the voting behaviour of Dalits. From a total of 131 seats reserved for SCs, STs and OBCs, the BJP managed to win only 55, and the percentage of SC/ST/OBC votes in their favour has also decreased substantially. According to the My-Axis poll, the INDI Alliance won 53 more SC dominated seats than they did in 2019, while on the other hand the BJP lost 34 SC dominated seats as compared to 2019.
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The state of Uttar Pradesh has 17 seats reserved for Dalits. In the 2014 elections, BJP bagged all 17 of them and in 2019 they captured 14. In the recent elections however, only 8 of these seats were won by them. The INDIA bloc also made a lot of promises to the people of Uttar Pradesh which seemed to have garnered the support of the Dalit community. It included
a minimum wage of 400 rupees and compensation for unemployment, among others.
In the states of Telangana, Maharashtra, Rajasthan, and Haryana as well we see a similar pattern wherein the bjp lost a major chunk of the Dalit vote share. The three seats reserved for SC/STs in Telangana were swept up by the INDIA Bloc, while a huge share of Dalit votes in Maharashtra also veered towards the alliance bloc. In Rajasthan, the BJP suffered heavy losses in constituencies with SC/ST/OBC dominated voters, such as eastern Rajasthan and the Shekhawati region.
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What caused this significant shift away from the Bharatiya Janata Party? In the case of the Dalit vote, BJP’s “400 paar ” slogan seems to have done more harm than good. Many on ground sources interviewed by various media outlets echoed the fear that such an overwhelming majority of the BJP could lead to alteration of the constitution, specifically the special provisions that protects their community. The Constitution is an invaluable source of empowerment and protection for these communities, and when faced with the possibility of it being taken away from them, they united as a group to ensure the party in question is unable to do so. The INDIA bloc used this threat as part of their campaigning efforts and it clearly struck a chord with the people.
The voters’ dissatisfaction with the lack of representation among the NDA candidates, coupled with an increasing representation among the INDIA bloc, is another contributing factor to this change. Many criticised Akhilesh Yadav’s decision to field a Dalit candidate in a general seat like Faizabad, but in the end this decision paid off.
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This dramatic shift in caste based voting behaviour signals an important shift for the country. The Dalits very evidently expressed their dissatisfaction with the BJP through their votes. The possibility of a threat to the salient provisions of the constitution was important enough to create a fundamental shift in voter behaviour.
*दलित टाइम्स उन करोड़ो लोगो की आवाज़ है जिन्हें हाशिए पर रखा गया है। *
महिला, दलित और आदिवासियों के मुद्दों पर केंद्रित पत्रकारिता करने और मुख्यधारा की मीडिया में इनका प्रतिनिधित्व करने के लिए हमें आर्थिक सहयोग करें।
