The Congress has traditionally depended on Dalit votes in every election to improve the poll prospects of its candidates. But the party is now under threat of losing part of this vote bank to other claimants.

The biggest gainer of this possible shift of the Dalit vote bank is likely to be the BSP, which is making a serious attempt to win one or more of the ten Lok Sabha seats in Haryana. The BSP, with its 'social engineering' formula, is trying to make deep inroads in the Congress bastion.

Says Maan Singh Manhera, All India General Secretary of BSP and incharge of party's poll campaign in Haryana, "Dalit votes are crucial to us. We will win three Lok Sabha seats - Gurgaon, Karnal and Ambala. In at least four seats, we will be the number two party in Haryana."

Congress leaders say the government has implemented many welfare measures such as free distribution of 100 square yard plots to them, various scholarship schemes, Indira Gandhi Drinking Water Project in which the SC families are being provided free water in their houses etc.

The Dalits still seem to be dissatisfied. One possible reason could be the non-fulfulment of some of the promises made to them in the Congress party manifesto, according to Ravi Choudhry, a Dalit leader of the state. "The Hooda government implemented the 85th Constitutional amendment, but not from the back date of 1996 that the Dalits had demanded. Job backlogs for the SCs and the BCs are still to be filled, and they are still to get free plots. How can the government expect to get the full support of the Dalits if it does not wholeheartedly support their various demands,'' says Ravi Choudhry.

... contd.