Doctor of Philosophy in Political Science

A STUDY OF ELECTORAL PARTICIPATION OF BAHUJAN SAMAJ PARTY IN UTTAR PRADESH SINCE 1996 Thesis Submitted For the Award of the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy In Political Science By Mohammad Amir Under The Supervision of DR. MOHAMMAD NASEEM KHAN DEPARTMENT OF POLITICAL SCIENCE ALIGARH MUSLIM UNIVERSITY ALIGARH (INDIA) Department Of Political Science Telephone: Aligarh Muslim University Chairman: (0571) 2701720 AMU PABX : 2700916/27009-21 Aligarh - 202002 Chairman : 1561 Office :1560 FAX: 0571-2700528 CERTIFICATE This is to certify that Mr. Mohammad Amir, Research Scholar of the Department of Political Science, A.M.U. Aligarh has completed his thesis entitled, “A STUDY OF ELECTORAL PARTICIPATION OF BAHUJAN SAMAJ PARTY IN UTTAR PRADESH SINCE 1996”, under my supervision. This thesis has been submitted to the Department of Political Science, Aligarh Muslim University, in fulfillment of requirement for the award of the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. To the best of my knowledge, it is his original work and the matter presented in the thesis has not been submitted in part or full for any degree of this or any other university. DR. MOHAMMAD NASEEM KHAN Supervisor All the praises and thanks are to almighty Allah (The Only God and Lord of all), who always guides us to the right path and without whose blessings this work could not have been accomplished. Acknowledgements I am deeply indebted to Late Prof. Syed Amin Ashraf who has been constant source of inspiration for me, whose blessings, Cooperation, love and unconditional support always helped me. May Allah give him peace. I really owe to Prof. Ummehani Ashraf who always inspires me a lot. I’m extremely grateful to my supervisor, Dr. MOHAMMAD NASEEM KHAN Department of Political Science, Aligarh Muslim University, Aligarh, for suggesting this topic and for helping me to acquire the confidence to embark upon this work. I owe him more supports, ideas and thoughts than it can be given due credit here. From inception to conclusion, this study owes so much to him. I convey my sincere thanks to the Chairman, Professor Mirza Asmer Beg, Department of Political Science, Aligarh Muslim University, Aligarh, for providing necessary research facilities. I also extend my profound thanks to Prof. Arif Hameed, Prof. Mohd. Abid, Prof. Nafees Ansari, Dr. Farhana Kausar, Mr. Aftab Alam, Dr. Naghma Farooqui and all other teachers of the Department whose valuable guidance and good wishes helped me considerably in the pursuit of my work. I extend my deep appreciation and special thanks to my senior Dr. Leyaqat khan and Dr. Jamaluddin Chaudhry for their guidance, encouragement and moral support throughout this tenure. I take this opportunity to express my gratitude to my friends and well wishers for their moral support and encouragement during the tenure of this work, especially Naushad Bhai, Ayaz, Aijaz, Tauseef, Shahid, Sarim , Tahseen, Ilham, Kaify, Umair, Adnan, Hamza, Zain whose fraternization and affability helped me at the moments of distress and exhaustion. A special thanks however, goes to my non teaching staff of the Department of Political Science, A.M.U. Aligarh especially Mr. Hammad, Mr. Asaf, Mr. Sulaiman, Mr. Muqeet. I shall be failing in my duty if I don’t put on record my wholehearted gratitude to my father Late Aziz Ur Rab and beloved mother Raheen Fatima without their encouragement and affection it would not have been possible for me to complete this work. My brothers Kashif and Ali, Cousin brothers Mnazir, Tahir, Shadab, Sikander, Javed, Adeeb and uncles Khaliur Rab, Abdali, Madni, Suhail, Seman, Akmal, Arshad, Shabbu and Hamid have been great motivation and understanding it would have been impossible for me to finish my research work. I would also like to thank each and everybody who have been directly or indirectly involved in or have been the part of my research work, and who has contributed in any way in completing my work. Every help counts and sometimes the little thing in life bring a lot change. Thanks to everyone! Mohammad Amir Abstract ABSTRACT In modern democracies, political parties play a vital role in formation of government and formulation of public policies. Throughout the world political parties have become an indispensible part of contemporary political analysis as well as instruments of government making. The ideology and organisational structure of a political party are vital for its performance. All political parties have their constitutions which give in detail the organisational structure, the underlying ideology and the basic thrust of the parties. However in practice most of them may not adhere to what their party constitutions proclaim. The parties bring out election manifestoes which make several big promises to the people but in reality the main purpose is to capture power. The parties in their propagandas generally declare to be truly secular parties and work for all sections of the society without any partial policies. The study is solely based on empirical analysis of the beliefs, orientations and perceptions of the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) in the state of Uttar Pradesh which especially focuses on the role of this segment in the political system at micro level. Special focus is given on the transformation and changes that have been occurred in the participation process of the political party during the last few decades. In fact, with the advent of Bahujan Samaj Party in the state of Uttar Pradesh, a new epoch has been started in the history of electoral participation in the northern Indian state of Uttar Pradesh that made them highly active citizens in the political process. The research explored that the Bahujan Samaj Party having its constitution in place and it declares its ideology as social transformation of the society that the Dalits and other exploited sections of society can get equal rights. It was formed mainly to represent Bahujans ("People in majority"), referring to people from the Scheduled Castes (SCs), Scheduled Tribes (STs) and Other Backward Classes (OBCs) as well as minorities. The party claims to be inspired by the philosophy of B. R. Ambedkar. The Bahujan Samaj Party has its main base in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. The major political movements started in independent India, which includes backward caste and Dalit politics and the rise of Hindutva largely developed or have significantly impinge on it. Economic backwardness and political populism are the main factors intertwined with the recent history of Uttar Pradesh. These trends were followed by the Dalit Movement that began in Uttar Pradesh during the late 1970s and 1980s, and accentuated during the 1990s. Uttar Pradesh had not responded much to 1 Abstract the Dalit Movement in the pre and early post independence periods. However, during the late 1970s and 1980s, things changed dramatically and the state witnessed a resurgence of the Dalit Movement with a clear political agenda for social change. The movement had leading objective to capture state power for the Dalits. This objective was equipped with the expectation that once Dalits get enough economic and political benefits using state power, it would automatically improve their social status and economic conditions. Enhanced economic and political status has continuously provided enormous power to the upper castes and ensured them a dominant social position. To make this happen, the Dalit political forum, Bahujan Samaj Party, was formed in 1984 and it is now considered as one of the chief political parties in Uttar Pradesh politics. Although Dalit Movement of northern India puts Bahujan Samaj Party‟s political project as a top priority, the ideological concepts, such as „social mobility‟, „relative deprivation‟ and „reference group‟, remain central to the Dalits‟ social, economic and political status. Orthodox Hindu culture and traditions are recognised by the Dalit leaders as the main factors responsible for the marginalisation of Dalits. This ideological stand of the Dalit Movement has influenced its developmental and political priorities and in maintaining Hinduism and the upper castes as its foes. The formation of the Bahujan Samaj Party as a political party was a strategic part of the Dalit Movement and was expected to continue to be the spearhead of the movement. The Bahujan Samaj Party is being as a harbinger of major changes in the fundamental ideological propositions of the Dalit Movement which was supposed to be espoused by the protagonists of the movement. In the mid-1990s and the first decade of 21st century, the Bahujan Samaj Party brought major changes in the nature and ideology of the Dalit Movement in Uttar Pradesh in terms of setting up political coalitions first with Hindu minded political parties like the Bhartiya Janata Party and later it formed a coalition with its all-time opponents, the Brahmins through „social engineering‟. The latter is being posed by the Bahujan Samaj Party as a social coalition rather a political tie. This development brought about vivid changes in the Bahujan Samaj Party with major changes in the social development policies during party empower. One important reason for not letting the Dalit Movement take the floor in Uttar Pradesh was the social structure based on Hindu traditions and beliefs. The norms and values of Hindu society to a great extent determine the distribution of 2 Abstract opportunities to ownership of land and they have influenced the economic and political relation of people in Uttar Pradesh. Though social and economic relationships based on the religious interpretations have not been accepted by the Dalits they were deeply internalised by them. The second important reason was that Dalits, floating from bondage to one landowner to others could not develop a solid base in rural Uttar Pradesh. This restricted the ability of the Dalits in raising and maintaining a movement against the well established social hierarchy.

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