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With SCs and STs accounting for nearly 21 per cent of votes throughout the state, it is a sizeable bloc every party wants to capture
As the state inches towards elections in 2027, the April 14 birth anniversary of Dr Bhimrao Ambedkar, one of the biggest Dalit icons, has become grounds for political one-upmanship. Representational image/PTI
Come Ambedkar Jayanti on April 14, the electoral landscape in Uttar Pradesh will see a renewed push by political parties of all shades to align themselves with the big chunk of 21 per cent Dalit votes.
The ruling BJP has made grand plans and announced a scheme to beautify Ambedkar and other Dalit icon statues throughout the state, and the Samajwadi Party, through its PDA (Pichda, Dalit, Alpsankhyak) platform, is making all-out efforts to woo the community.
The BSP of Dalit czarina Mayawati will also hold a workers’ meeting at the Ambedkar Park memorial in the state capital, in which more than 2 lakh people are expected to attend on April 14. The Congress will also hold meetings at party offices throughout the state.
As the state inches towards elections in 2027, the birth anniversary of Dr Bhimrao Ambedkar, one of the biggest Dalit icons, has become grounds for political one-upmanship. With SCs and STs accounting for nearly 21 per cent of votes throughout the state, it is a sizeable bloc every party wants to capture.
While BSP rode to power four times, banking on its once loyal Dalit vote base in the state, recent elections have shown a slight shift of these votes towards the BJP and SP.
The BJP was successful in garnering a big part of the Dalit votes in the huge Modi wave sweeping across the country in the 2014 parliamentary and 2017 Uttar Pradesh assembly polls. But after that, the Samajwadi Party, in a change of tack, has also made some inroads into the shifting Dalit votes. The most recent example was its surprise performance in the 2024 parliamentary polls, where the SP and Congress alliance won 44 out of 80 seats in UP, riding on the consolidation of OBC, Dalit, and minority votes behind it. It is this OBC-Dalit-minority vote bank that SP chief Akhilesh Yadav has targeted with his new PDA plank. The SP has been organising Ambedkar Jayanti and Kanshi Ram Jayanti for some time now, and on April 14, it will hold meetings at sector and village levels to connect with the community.
The BSP failed to win any Lok Sabha seat in the 2024 elections and only one seat in the 2022 assembly polls in the state. However, Mayawati still holds sway over the Jatav vote bank among Dalits and, on April 14, the BSP is organising a big gathering of more than 2 lakh workers at the Ambedkar Park Memorial in the state capital.
The BJP government in the state passed a Cabinet resolution earlier this week to beautify and renovate Ambedkar statues in all 403 assembly segments. Ten spots in each assembly constituency, where statues of Dr Ambedkar or other Dalit icons like Sant Ravidas, Jyotiba Phuley, Maharishi Valmiki, Kabir, etc are situated, will be beautified and renovated through government funds, and functions will be held across the state.
The BJP plans to keep the momentum going till the 2027 assembly polls and regularly organise such functions in various parts of the state.
April 10, 2026, 19:21 IST
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