Dalit outreach: Yogi raises dropping of Kanshi Ram’s name from universities by SP

Chief minister Yogi Adityanath on Tuesday launched the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)’s drive to connect with Dalits from Hapur in west U.P. where he deftly reminded a primarily Dalit audience how the Samajwadi Party (SP) government had played appeasement politics during its time by dropping the name of Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) founder Kanshi Ram from two universities in the state.

He also inaugurated/dedicated around 102 schemes worth ₹136 crore from Hapur. Addressing the first of the six scheduled caste meets that have been organised by the BJP ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha polls, the CM sought to refer to his political opponents as ‘Kalanemi’—the mythical, magical demon of the Ramayana era.

The demon had made an abortive bid to stop Lord Hanuman from getting the magical herb that saved Laxman after he was hit during the battle with demon king Ravana.

“One laughs on noticing how some people today take the name of Babasaheb Ambedkar and Kanshi Ram ji. Then we wonder if they really mean it or like Kalanemi they are out to cheat (dalits),” Yogi said while blaming the then Akhilesh Yadav government of dropping Kanshi Ram’s name from universities and stopping scholarships of SC/ST students.

“In contrast, the Pradhan Mantri SVAMITVA Yojana, under Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s leadership, has granted land ownership rights to 66 lakh families. I also want to make it clear that any person from the Scheduled Caste/Tribe who is residing on non-reserved category land, will be granted a lease to build a home. If the land on which the SC/ST person is residing is reserved category land, proper arrangements will be made for their rehabilitation by giving additional land,” he said.

“Moreover, the administration will not displace impoverished individuals from the Scheduled Caste and Tribe communities,” the CM added. The repeated references to Kanshi Ram wasn’t surprising given the push Samajwadi Party has been making to woo BSP’s Dalit voters, who since 2014 have been gravitating towards the BJP.

In March, Yadav had unveiled Kanshi Ram’s statue in Rae Bareli to showcase efforts in that direction. The SP subsequently won Ghosi by-poll in east UP from which BSP had kept away. There is an impression that even Dalit voters backed the SP candidate who was also supported by the Congress and the RLD.

Post Ghosi, BSP chief Mayawati too has on several occasions tasked her party’s cadres with making Dalits aware of the “conspiracies” by political opponents to create confusion among them. Yogi, who is also conscious of recent SP efforts to woo Dalits, thus stepped up the attack on his prime political opponent in the state.

“Is it not true that during the SP rule the scholarships of SC/ST students was stopped in 2015-16, Saharanpur medical college and Lucknow’s language university’s were renamed,” he asked.

The chief minister quickly recalled how the then SP government had decided to drop the name of BSP founder Kanshi Ram from the then upcoming medical college in Saharanpur and instead rename it Sheikhul Hind Maulana Mahmood Hasan Medical College and dropped Kanshi Ram from the Lucknow’s language university, which was named ‘Khwaja Moinuddin Urdu Arabi-Farsi University. Yogi also announced that work on the upcoming Dr Bhimrao Ambedkar International Centre at Lucknow was in its final phase.

“When ready, this centre would serve as a point for scholarships, competitions and higher studies for SC/ST students,” he said while elaborating on how various welfare schemes of the BJP government like free toilets, cooking gas connections, power supply had made things easier for the poorest of the poor. For good measure, the CM also invoked Dalit icons, who, he said, guided the society.

“From time immemorial, great leaders from this community have guided the society. Maharishi Valmiki gifted us an epic like Ramayana, Maharishi Ved Vyasa gave us greatest values and ways to understand them as did great saint Ravidas. Post independence, it was BR Ambedkar who gifted us the Constitution, the gospel on which the society is run, uniting 142 crore Indians,” he said.

Yogi also referred to how Prime Minister Narendra Modi had developed ‘Panchteerth’—the five places associated with Ambedkar.