NEW DELHI, SEPTEMBER 21: Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) founder and mentor Kanshi Ram’s illness could not have come at a worse time. His party is at crossroads after being tossed out of power in UP — it has split with most upper caste MLAs deserting the party and it now faces the most difficult task — how to regroup and expand its base so as not to face upper caste treachery and betrayal.

Kanshi Ram can take solace in the fact that there are at least half-a-dozen Brahmin, Rajput and Muslim MLAs, who have stayed back. But the prediliction facing the BSP is quite obvious — how to keep its upper caste MLAs in the fold or conversely, how to win elections without its fatal dependence on them. The BSP’s loyal Dalit votebank of 22 per cent is intact but in a caste-polarised society, it desperately needs a chunk of other groups like the Brahmins or Thakurs.

Kanshi Ram’s strategy of expanding the Dalit base from an exclusive Chamaar group to include the More Backward Castes (MBCs) like Kumhars, Lohars, Badais and Dhobis among others, has worked to a large extent. However, the BSP still requires to expand to include all the MBCs as well as the upper castes, to come up with a winning formula at the polls.

So, how does the BSP accomodate the upper castes? According to Chandra Bhan Prasad, renowned Dalit activist and thinker, the strategy is undeniably a long-lasting alliance between Dalits and Brahmins. ‘‘Ever since the first election, Brahmin representation has been diminishing and, in UP, they have been run over by the land-owning group which comprise Thakurs, Jats, Gujjars, Lodhis, Kurmis and Yadavs, represented by SP. ‘‘Today, the Brahmins have no influence but they will come after the poll to forge an alliance with Dalits through their platform, the BJP or Congress. The BSP’s mistake is that it has always given tickets to aspirants among the upper castes and whose occupation is to keep their interests intact. So they switch sides.’’