UP Brahmins, wooed by all parties, happy to be back as 'kingmakers' in the state

Lalan Dubey from Deoria is a happy man these days. A small farmer, crops his land yields take care of the family’s needs for three-four months in a year. The rest of the time he doubles up as a priest, tells people their future and presides over religious rituals. Two of his sons are employed in Government departments and they still live with parents, making the Dubey family a relatively happy family.

But his recent phase of elation has more to do, he confesses, to elections being round the corner and Brahmins being wooed by all parties in Uttar Pradesh. Brahmins, he says, are receiving due importance in politics after a long time. After almost 30 years on the margins, he exults, the community is getting its mojo back. True, Brahmins traditionally voted for Congress and then the BJP in Uttar Pradesh. They were then wooed by both Samajwadi Party and the Bahujan Samaj Party. But OBCs and Dalits have dominated UP’s politics over the last three decades.

BSP has been first off the mark by organising a Brahmin Sammelan at Ayodhya. BSP chief Mayawati declared that the party would be fielding the highest number of Brahmins in the assembly election next year. Lalan Dubey says with satisfaction, “We remember the days when hostile BSP supporters would raise slogans, ‘Tilak, tarazu aur talwar, Maaro inko joote chaar’ and still did well in elections. But with the BJP having made inroads into Dalits and OBCs, Mayawati is left with no option but to now echo BJP’s slogan ‘Jai Shri Ram’.”

In 2007 too Mayawati had tried to broaden her party’s support base. Dubey remembers the slogan raised that year. Referring to the party’s symbol the elephant, BSP supporters would then shout, “Haathi nahi Ganesh hai, Bramha, Vishnu, Mahesh hai”. BSP leader Satish Mishra’s assertion that if Brahmins and Dalits come together, nobody could prevent them from ruling UP, has also been exhilarating, he admits. Not just the BSP but the Samajwadi Party too has taken refuge with Ram, says Dubey with a chuckle. SP too plans to hold a Brahmin Sammelan in August.

The community, annoyed apparently with Yogi Adityanath having marginalised them, claims to constitute 10 to 13 percent of the voters, which is possibly an exaggeration. But the community does remain influential and because of its access to homes and the women of the household by virtue of being priests, Brahmins do make a difference.

In Uttar Pradesh, as election fever mounts, street wisdom is that by wooing Brahmins, BSP is aiding the BJP. Brahmins have been suffering from a persecution complex in the state and believe they were denied their due by the Rajput chief minister Yogi Adityanath. Some Brahmins also feel the community has been persecuted. The Bharatiya Janata Party will do its best to placate the community with Ram temple and other sops but if BSP mops up the disgruntled Brahmin votes from going to the Samajwadi Party, which is believed to be the strongest contender, it would help the ruling party.

It is the same role that Asaduddin Owaisi’s AIMIM will play in dividing Muslim votes is the consensus at the barber’s shop. BJP has mastered the tricks, people say, of caste engineering. In the last election it polled the highest votes from Dalit and OBC groups besides the upper castes. This time too, it is determined to ensure that anti-BJP votes get split.

Not everybody is convinced though. Dalit writer Amit Kumar says Mayawati is fast losing her support base among the Dalits. She looks both jaded and outdated and may well lose whatever little support she still has in the state, he adds.

Professor Ravikant from Lucknow University concedes that even the BJP is signalling the significance of Brahmins in the next election by engineering the defection of Jitin Prasada from Congress. He believes the BJP remains the Brahmins’ overwhelming choice in UP. The BSP, he recalls, had voted for SP candidates in the Legislative Council elections but had supported BJP candidates in the Rajya Sabha elections. It is truly the Team-B of BJP, he adds with a laugh.

Utkarsh Sinha, editor of a news portal in Lucknow, concurs. Brahmins are basking in the newfound importance they are receiving. And the community is signalling that though their numerical strength may not be very high, they still matter in UP’s politics.

Prof Harsh Kumar Sinha adds a twist to the tale. Muslims in West Bengal had no difficulty in rallying round a Brahmin, Mamata Banerjee, though she went around chanting Sanskrit mantras and ‘Chandi Path’ in her election rallies to demonstrate how devout a Hindu she is, he points out. Muslims of UP could similarly vote for both SP and in some constituencies for the BSP. Mayawati, he thinks, stands to lose nothing by wooing Brahmins.