With parties across the country’s political spectrum staking claim to B R Ambedkar’s legacy by holding programmes on his birth and death anniversaries and promising to safeguard the Constitution drafted by him, the ruling BJP in Uttar Pradesh has begun to focus on several social icons in a bid to win the trust of Dalit and tribal voters ahead of the 2027 state Assembly elections.
The Scheduled Caste (SC) wing of the UP BJP has drawn up a year-long calendar to organise state-wide programmes marking the birth and death anniversaries of over a dozen prominent social reformers from the SC and Scheduled Tribe (ST) communities.
A prominent name in this BJP’s calendar is Kanshi Ram, founder of the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP). Last year, BSP president Mayawati addressed a rally in Lucknow on October 9, Kanshi Ram’s death anniversary, in an apparent show of strength. The Samajwadi Party (SP) and the Congress too held events on the occasion to pay tributes to Kanshi Ram. The Azad Samaj Party (Kanshi Ram), led by Nagina MP Chandrashekhar Aazad, also organises events in his memory.
Other names on the BJP’s list include Ramabai Ambedkar, Savitribai Phule, Sant Gadge Maharaj, Swami Achhootanand, Jhalkari Bai, Durbal Maharaj, Sant Ravidas and Uda Devi. The party will also hold programmes to pay tributes to tribal leaders Birsa Munda and Tilka Manjhi.
“We have to win the trust of the Dalit community and other weaker sections and foster a sense of affinity with others (upper castes and OBCs). With that objective, the party will organise grand programmes across the state to pay tributes to these icons and discuss their contribution to society,” said Ram Chandra Kanojia, president of the UP BJP’s SC Morcha. The party’s calendars detailing the proposed programmes have been sent to its district units across the state.
Kanojia said that at these events, the party would also highlight the work done for the SCs and STs by the governments led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath.
He added that instructions had already been issued to the district party units to celebrate Sant Gadge Maharaj’s birth anniversary on February 23. Sant Gadge Maharaj was from the Dhobi community in Maharashtra.
On celebrating Kanshi Ram’s birth anniversary on March 15, the BJP leader said the BSP founder had guided oppressed communities to demand their rights, raise their voice and form their own government.
Sources in the BJP said the party leadership had grown concerned about Dalit voters after the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, in which its tally in Uttar Pradesh fell compared to 2019, while the SP-Congress alliance won more seats than the BJP-led NDA. Among the factors identified for the BJP’s setback, a shift of Dalit votes towards the SP-Congress alliance over its call to “save the Constitution” was seen as crucial.
In the run-up to the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, the Opposition INDIA bloc advanced the narrative that the Constitution would be under threat if the BJP returned to power with a bigger mandate. The claim gained traction alongside the NDA’s slogan of “ab ki baar, 400 paar (this time, 400-plus seats)”.
After the 2024 polls, parties across the NDA and INDIA bloc organised programmes — from marathons and community feasts to seminars and Preamble recitals — to mark Ambedkar Jayanti. In Bihar, Chief Minister and JD(U) president Nitish Kumar addressed a “Bhim Samvad” event, recalling Ambedkar’s contribution to the Constitution. A banner in the background carried photographs of Ambedkar, the CM and other JD(U) leaders, along with the slogan: “Haan, hum Dalit hain (Yes, we are Dalits)”.
With the BJP government in UP entering its fifth year, the party is now seeking to recalibrate social equations as it aims to retain power in the state for a third consecutive term.