Bengaluru: The Social Democratic Front of India (SDPI) is focusing largely on middle and lower class pockets of Dalit Christian, Dalit and Muslim communities and want their supporters from these areas to turn up at polling stations in large numbers on Saturday so that they can turn the tide in their favour.
The SDPI is contesting in 18 wards in the city and has been trying to blend the politics of Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) to ensure that they give a tough fight to traditional parties such as BJP and Congress. Without attracting media glare, the party had held campaigns in these areas.
Speaking to Deccan Chronicle, SDPI’s Karnataka unit state president Mehaboob Shariff said, “We began our campaign for the BBMP polls three months ago, we have been mainly canvassing door-to-door apart from holding street corner meetings instead of spending large amounts on advertisements or public rallies.”
Mr Shariff added that the SDPI cadre was working round-the-clock in these wards for the last two years ensuring that voters get their due rights. “For instance, in DJ Halli, there is a water problem. It is a perennial problem, we took the initiative to recharge four defunct borewells, which are yielding a good quantity of water now. These borewells are present in areas dominated by Dalits and Christians. Apart from this, party workers have been toiling to ensure these families get the benefit of welfare schemes launched by the BBMP,” Mr Shariff explained.
While organising street corner meetings, the party used to take the help of those who had benefited from their initiatives and had asked them to campaign for the SDPI. “We did not go for lengthy speeches. Instead, we went for crispy messages, that appealed to the lower strata of voters in various wards where our party had been contesting,” he said.
Apart from this, SDPI needs to expand its base to make an impact, so getting Dalits into the party fold had become inevitable. “Unlike the so-called secular parties - Congress or Janata Dal (S) - we are not going overboard to placate any particular community including Muslims. At the same time we do not want to be compared to parties like the BJP or Hyderabad-based AIMIM. We want to have an identity of our own and bring about change,” he contended.
