Kanshi Ram Saheb who gave edge to caste politics - Special report on his 89th birth anniversary
March 15, 2023
- KC Pippal
Manyavar Kanshi Ram Saheb, the Son of Sardar Hari Singh and Bishan Kaur, it seems appropriate in today's environment to discuss his political thinking on his 89th birth anniversary on 15 March 2023. Instead of thinking of annihilating caste like Babasaheb, he considered sharpening the upper edge of the sword of caste in the interest of Bahujan Samaj. Although, ideologically he was a follower of Babasaheb, Jotirao Phule, Narayan Guru, Periyar EV Ramaswamy Naicker, Chhatrapati Shahuji Maharaj. The humanistic philosophy of the great human beings Buddha, Kabir, Raidas and Nanak shows a clear impression on him. To form a Organisation of Bahujan Samaj like Buddha, abandoning his family, not marrying, not possessing any property for personal interest, etc. were similar to Buddha and medieval saints. Therefore, according to the said criteria, they were following Paribrajak or Saman Dharma. Due to his noble character, the Bahujan Samaj got organized and agitated very fast 'socially, ideologically and politically' under his leadership. He defied Brahmin politics and said "Arya sons come to their senses, don't clash with slave sons" Number of slaves is 85 out of 100 and you are only 15 percent, if these slave sons wake up and convert from caste to Jamaat then you will not be able to survive in vote politics.
After his departure, the edge of Bahujan politics has weakened and the character of upper caste politics has become stronger in the form of Bharatiya Janata Party instead of Congress. The disciples of Kanshi Ram Saheb have formed many parties in the name of caste, all of which chant to complete the unfinished mission of Kanshi Ram Saheb. Getting 10 percent EWS reservation for the poor of upper caste society is the biggest victory of this new political polarisation under the leadership of BJP and a big challenge to Bahujan politics. Manuvadi politics has given another big blow to OBC society by not conducting caste census. To implement the Mandal Commission, the path of Bahujan movement was started by Manyvar Kanshi Ram Saheb which gave reliable leadership, such type single leadership is not visible today.
Dissatisfied leaders of Manuwadi parties who do politics of Bahujan Samaj prepare the way to make BJP, Congress or other Manuwadi parties powerful by dividing the voters of Kanshi Ram. In this way, the sharp Bahujan politics of Honorable Kanshi Ram Saheb is being affected. Presently Bahujan Samaj is fragmented and 20 percent Manuwadi Samaj is organized under the flag of one party, among them, by juggling 15 percent votes from Bahujan Samaj on the basis of tickets, they become the owners of 35-40 percent votes. Some caste based parties of Bahujan Samaj dividing the Bahujan votes. These parties are helping to Manuvadi parties, and BJP comes in (A) category as a most beneficiary political party, followed by Congress comes in (B), Trinamool Congress in (C), Marxist Communist Party of India in (D), Aam Aadmi Party in (E), Biju Janata Dal in (F), Bharat Rashtra Samithi of Telangana in (G) and Shiv Sena in (H) type categories of Manuwadi political forces are consolidating the bahujan votes in their own interest by dividing the votes of Bahujan samaj.
On the other hand, Bahujan Samaj Party is still the only political force among the national parties which have strengthened the politics of Bahujan Samaj, which has mass base in 16 states, therefore it is an (A) category party of Bahujans. Remaining 60 Bahujan parties have strong presence in different states, Manuwadi media is trying to minimize their importance by propagating them in the name of casteist, familyist and regional or Chhatrap parties instead of Bahujan parties. Due to which the state level strong parties of Bahujans could never unite and contest elections at the national level, rather they have been becoming part of the so-called Manuwadi national parties' like NDA or UPA. Bahin Mayawati, the leader of Bahujan Samaj Party also never took initiative to unite them.
Today, Chief Minister of Bihar Nitish Kumar, Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu MK Stalin are trying hard to unite the political parties of Bahujans, but the result is not visible that much. Political experts believe that without the Bahujan Samaj Party, any alliance of Bahujan parties will not be as successful as the NDA and UPA of Manuwadi parties. If Bahan Mayawati ji is the true successor of Manyavar Kanshi Ram Saheb, then she will have to try to unite the Bahujan forces under the national level umbrella. Otherwise, it would be meaningless to chant the politics of Bahujans.
Babasaheb's political legacy After the collapse of the Republican Party of India by 1970, to restore the legacy of the Bahujans, Honorable Kanshiram Saheb along with his colleagues formed the All India Backward and Minority Employees Federation (BAMCEF) formed in Poona in 1973. This organisation was completely non-political, non-religious and non-agitational. BAMCEF was formally constituted at the national level in 1978. The trainers of BAMCEF introduced to the educated employees of SCs, STs, OBC and religious Minorities society to the ideology of Bahujan' great men through the cadre camps. It was an ideological movement of the Bahujan Samaj, which inspired the youth and women from the families of trained workers for social struggle. Conscious workers of Bahujan Samaj, inspired by the ideological movement, were included in a quasi-political organization called Dalit Shoshit Samaj Sangharsh Samiti (DS-4) to fight for social equality and self-respect. BAMCEF proved capable of fulfilling the political aspirations of millions of Bahujan' government employees. Without this initiative, the development of Shoshit Samaj Sangharsh Samiti (DS-4) and Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) as a huge political organisation would not have been possible.
The BAMCEF was formed for ideological action, DS-4 was formed for social action and BSP was formed for political action. These three organisations have been formed to fulfill the goal of complete equality which was set by the Buddhist Research Center (BRC) has established by Babasaheb Ambedkar. Under this goal, Manyavar Kanshi Ram Saheb expressed his desire in 2002 to be initiated into Buddhism along with 6 crore Bahujan' people on 20 October 2006. Actually, he chose the day of October 20, 2006 because on this day Babasaheb Ambedkar was completing 50 years of Buddhist initiation. This was a big cultural action of Manyavar Kanshiram ji like Babasaheb Ambedkar, which remained incomplete till death. He passed away on 9 October 2006 after a long neuoro based illness. In this way, he put his whole life at stake to complete the unfinished mission of Babasaheb Ambedkar.
Changes in Bahujan politics
Manyavar Kanshiram Sahib was a scientist by profession, by religion he was born in a Sardar's house. He was completely inspired by the speech of Sikh Guru Ravidas ji like “Raidas soi sura bhala, jo larai din ke het". He did not turn his back from the battlefield even when he fell in the battlefield fighting for the protection of the people. He was also inspired by the saying of his Guru "Let the eagle fly by the birds". He was a source of encouragement and inspiration to the Bahujan Samaj. He spoke and thought about the bright future of the Bahujans for the betterment of them, he started an iodological movement in organised way. It was better to form a separate platform of Bahujan Samaj to address their issues, instead of working in an organization under an upper caste' leadership. He believed that a person from an exploiting society should never be the leader of an exploited society. He had said, "जितनी संख्या भारी उसकी उतनी हिस्सेदारी।" He founded the Bahujan Samaj Party on April 14, 1984, on the 93rd birth anniversary of Babasaheb Dr Ambedkar to establish the political supremacy of the Bahujan Samaj, which party was developed as a national level political party till 1996-97.
BSP' Political journey since 1989
The Bahujan Samaj Party is the legacy of Dr. Ambedkar, got its first positive result in Uttar Pradesh in 1989, five years after its formation, when the BSP managed to win 13 Vidhan Sabha and 3 Lok Sabha seats with a vote share of 9.4 per cent. After this BSP continued to touch heights till 2007. For the first time in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, the BSP had to fall to zero. In the 2017 Vidhan Sabha, it had to go through only 19 seats and now in 2022, it had to be satisfied with 1 seat. Talking about vote share, the lowest vote share of 12.9 per cent could be obtained in 2022, which is equal to 13 per cent of the population of Jatav/ Chamar community of Uttar Pradesh. It had 22 per cent vote share in 2017, due to which BSP had an alliance with SP in 2019. The BSP also won 10 Lok Sabha seats and the SP five, keeping the vote share in the coalition almost at its old level. BSP suffered the biggest loss due to break of BSP+SP alliance. As a result, in the 2022 Uttar Pradesh assembly elections, BSP got 12.88% votes with 1 death, which is not even coming from its base votes.
The greater the number, the greater the share: Honorable Kanshi Ram ji wanted that the Bahujan Samaj should fight for a share in religion, politics, governance, economic wealth and education in proportion to the population. Today, caste census is necessary to know the correct strength of Bahujan Samaj, assessment does not give a permanent solution, even the court does not accept it. The decennial census to be held in India in 2021 is still pending because of the demand of the Bahujan Samaj that whenever the census is conducted, the population of all castes including Brahmins should also be recorded in it. It is clearly stated in the recommendations of the Mandal Commission that the caste figures of 1931 are pre-partition based on which the caste population of the country has been estimated by the commission. Therefore, along with the decennial census, the government should also do the work of conducting caste census. Based on the Mandal Commission report and the 2011 census, the percentage classification of the total population of India is as follows:
Classification of social demography
The total population of scheduled castes and scheduled tribes which was 22.56% has increased to 25.20% in 2011 census and data is not available due to pending 2021 census. According to the 2011 census data, SCs should get 16.6% instead of 15% and STs should get 8.6% instead of 7.5% in central government jobs, which the government is not giving. While the number of reserved seats in the Lok Sabha has been increased from 119 to 131 in proportion to the new 2001 population. The government and the beneficiary reserved class of the society must pay attention to this. Apart from this, on the basis of 1931 census figures, the Mandal Commission estimated the population of OBCs at 52.1%, in which the share of 'Hindu OBCs' is 43.70% and the share of non-Hindu OBCs is 8.40%. Instead of 52% share, OBC is given only 27% quota in central jobs, in which creamy layer family candidates do not get the reservation benefit and niether get share in general and economically weaker section EWS quota. In SC category includes Hindu, Sikh and Buddhist people, in ST includes Hindu, Muslim, Christian and other's people, OBC category includes Hindu, Muslim, Sikh, Christian, Buddhist religious communities whose total population is 77.3% according to the above figures. The total population of non-Bahujans is only 22.7%, in which 8% share of non-Hindu forward class population is also included. Caste proportional representation is not needed to remove unemployment and poverty. For this only the decennial census is considered as legal data, the government is not interested in making these data available to the public.
Future of Bahujan' politics
The people of Bahujan Samaj are looking for an alliance of BSP, SP, Lok Dal and other small parties of similar ideology. BSP chief sister Mayawati ji should seriously think about an effective alliance for the 2024 elections. Otherwise it will be difficult to save the legacy of Honorable Kanshi Ram. Keep in mind that BJP's goal is to end all familyist parties including Congress. On the birth anniversary of Honorable Kanshi Ram Saheb, it should be remembered that during his time he aligned with SP in 1993, Congress in 1996, Janata Dal (Secular) in Karnataka, Shiromani Akali Dal (Badal) in Punjab and increased his vote share. extended. Due to his strategy and political skill, he succeeded in getting the BSP, the first political party led by Bahujans, to get national recognition. Joining hands with an ideologically opposed political party like Congress in the interest of Bahujan Samaj will also not be a wrong step to counter the big political opponent in the 2024 elections. Without an alliance, it will be difficult for the BSP to return 10 Lok Sabha seats in 2024. And if the BSP continues to lose, the voters of the supporting society may also leave. Taking lessons from the historic collapse of the Republican Party of India, Kanshi Ram ji had decided on a political journey ahead. If this is repeated again then there will be huge disappointment in the society, it is the responsibility of sister Mayawati ji to save it. It is also necessary to find a way to establish positive dialogue with small political parties and social organisations of Bahujan Samaj. In 2019, when Behinji forged an alliance after listening to social thinkers, the party benefited from it.
Foresight of Kanshi Ram Saheb
As the awareness of Bahujan Samaj increased due to the struggle of Honorable Kanshi Ram Saheb, Congress's hold on the votes of Dalits, Tribals, OBCs and Muslims started loosening. Under compulsion, to save its existence, it had to join hands with small parties of Bahujans and forge UPA alliance. In 1996, the Congress came out of the hands of the Nehru family and came to Narasimha Rao, with whom Kanshi Ram ji compromised by giving 125 seats in Uttar Pradesh in 1996 and made up for the break with the SP. Atal Bihari Vajpayee ji also started contesting elections from 1998 by forming the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) which continues even today. On the lines of this NDA, when Sonia ji's Congress also left alone and formed the United Progressive Alliance (UPA), their government was formed in 2004 and 2009. During this period, SP and BSP also benefited, their graph and seats both increased. The SP-BSP both suffered in the Modi-led NDA regime, ousting them from power in Uttar Pradesh, and the BSP's vote share declined. Now it is a necessity and compulsion for the looted parties to forget mutual bitterness and join hands.
In 1989 Lok Sabha elections BSP got 3 seats and 2.1 percent votes, in 1991 Lok Sabha elections BSP got 3 seats and 1.8 percent votes, in 1996 Lok Sabha elections BSP got 11 seats and 4.0 percent votes, in 1998 Lok Sabha elections BSP got 5 seats and 4.7 percent votes, 14 seats and 4.2 percent votes got in 1999 Lok Sabha election, 19 seats and 5.3 percent votes found in 2004 Lok Sabha elections, 21 seats and 6.2% vote share found in 2009 Lok Sabha elections, while in 2014 Lok Sabha election- BSP' polled 2.3 crore votes with 4.2 per cent vote share and came third but no seats in its bag. In the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, the BSP came third at national level polled 2.22 crore votes (3.2 per cent) and got 10 seats in Lok Sabha.
The graph of BSP has definitely fallen as compared to earlier, whatever may have been the reasons for this, but its effectiveness is still intact. BSP's presence is still present in 16 states of India. As of now, BSP is the only national party with a large mass base of Ambedkarites Bahujans. However, followers of Ambedkar and Kanshi Ram have formed more than 60 small political parties. The aim of Kanshiram Saheb was to make the India of Emperor Ashoka' dream, which does not know how many years it will take to complete. If the Bahujan Samaj Party starts dialogue with the political and social organisations of the Bahujans, then this task will become easy very soon and the Bahujan legacy of Honorable Kanshi Ram Saheb will be preserved.
As on June 7, 2019, the 8 recognised "national parties" in India are 1. Bharatiya Janata Party, 2. Indian National Congress, 3. Bahujan Samaj Party, 4. Nationalist Congress Party, 5. Communist Party of India 6. Communist Party of India (Marxist) 7. All India Trinamool Congress and 8. People Party of India founded by P. A. Sangma. The Bahujan Samaj Party has remained the third number national party since 1996-97 as per the terms of the Election Commission. However, the biggest success of Bahujan politics is that out of eight political parties in India, five parties are headed by the Bahujan Samaj leaders. Three of these (BSP, Congress and CPI) are led by Scheduled Castes' leaders like Mayawati, Mallikarjun Kharge and D Raja, the fourth is Nationalist Congress Party led by Sharad Power of OBC and the fifth National Party PPI is led by Sangma of Christian-ST community. While the leadership of the three national parties has remained in the hands of the Brahmin community. In which BJP President JP Nadda, TMC leader Mamta Banerjee and CPIM leader Sita Ram Yechury are belong to Brahmin community. In the time of Kanshi Ram Saheb, there were seven national parties, all are headed by the Brahmin community. Today, there has definitely been registered a decrease of political share of Brahman in recent past.
The Bahujan politics of Manyavar Kanshi Ram ji has become effective in the form of a strong Bahujan movement today, and their participation is continuously increasing in religion, politics, governance, economic wealth and education. This is the result of Manyavar giving edge to the politics of Bahujan Jamaat. RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat has also accepted that “Pundits have created castes”. Those who created castes are now worried that the weapon of caste, which used to weaken the Bahujan Samaj till yesterday, has now started harming the Brahmin Samaj as well. This was the aim of Manyavar Kanshiram that those who created the castes will only cure this disease when this disease will make them sick and weak.
