NEW DELHI: The loss of dalit support in the Hindi heartland has become a major cause of concern for the BJP ahead of the Lok Sabha elections in 2019. Both the BJP and the RSS have now joined hands to try and consolidate the dalit votebank which, they feel, “is rapidly moving away” from the saffron party following attacks and atrocities on them.
Under its dalit outreach programme, the RSS recently invited chairman of Buddhist International Research Centre, Bhadant Shanti Mitr, to deliver an address on the concluding day of Sangh’s 20-day training camp, sources said. The party high command has also asked its supporters and functionaries to prevent and swiftly act on reports of atrocities against dalits.
Saffron strategists told this newspaper that over the past few months BSP chief Mayawati has emerged as the “main threat” to the party in Uttar Pradesh and other parts of the Hindi belt. A BJP functionary pointed out that in Chhattisgarh BSP’s “vote share in the Assembly election last time was higher than the margin of victory for the BJP”.
