New Delhi, 25 January 2025- At the end of December, former Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal reached the Valmiki temple in Central Delhi. He offered prayers at the temple and started his campaign for the New Delhi assembly seat.
Kejriwal is facing the electoral challenge for the fourth time from the New Delhi seat. The Valmiki temple comes under this New Delhi assembly seat. Kejriwal visits this temple every time before filing his nomination.
There is a Valmiki colony a few meters away from the temple. Some people from the Valmiki community were sitting in the colony and discussing the elections. In the midst of the discussion, a young Pushpendra said, “This time the Valmiki vote will be cut. It will go to Congress, also BJP and Aam Aadmi as well.”
Interrupting the conversation, an elderly man said that the biggest problem here is the lack of employment for children.
In this same Valmiki colony, Arvind Kejriwal, along with other party leaders, launched his election symbol in 2013 by sweeping the floor. In the politics of symbols, this election symbol of Kejriwal got the support of Dalit voters in the last two elections. This also includes the section which is associated with cleaning work. For this section, the broom has its own importance.
In the 2013 elections, Dalit voters supported the newly formed Aam Aadmi Party. In this election, AAP won nine out of 12 reserved seats. In the last two elections, AAP did a clean sweep on all twelve seats.
Dalit votes are with which party ?
In the seven assembly elections from 1993 to 2020, whoever gained an edge on the seats reserved for Dalits formed the government.
Ambedkar Basti is in Karol Bagh, about 10 kilometers away from Valmiki temple. Karol Bagh assembly seat is a reserved seat.
The colony appears clean at the beginning but when you go inside the streets, dirt starts appearing. BBC team met Omvati in one such street. Omvati was cleaning the overflowing drain outside her slum.
“Don’t the cleaning people come?” BBC reporter asked
In response, Omwati says, “Every day we have to clean this drain ourselves. What happiness do these leaders gave us? We just want to say that get our drains built. Otherwise we will not vote.”
75-year-old Seema Devi says, “We want houses where the slums are. We will not go far. When our livelihood is here, what will we do by going far. We are with the one who will benefit us. We will vote for Kejriwal.”
There are more than 600 slum colonies and more than 1700 kutcha colonies in the capital Delhi. A large population of Dalits live in these.
BJP and Aam Aadmi Party often come face to face over these slums. AAP accuses BJP of demolishing slums and BJP counters this allegation with the slogan ‘Jahan Jhuggy Wahin Makaan’.
At some distance from Ambedkar Basti is Daya Basti, which comes under Sadar Bazar Assembly. As soon as you enter here, you see Ambedkar’s statue, garbage on the road and Bahujan Samaj Party flags on the houses. The number of people from Jatav community is more in this colony.
Ramesh Kumar’s family came from Western Uttar Pradesh and settled in Daya Basti about three decades ago.
On the question of leadership of Dalits in Delhi, Ramesh Kumar says, “There is no big Dalit leader in Delhi. When we do not have a leader, how will our voice reach. We are suppressed. Dalits have no life, sir. They are just living.”
Scattered Dalit Population across Delhi
Dalits have their influence in both the population and politics of Delhi. But is their representation also according to this? Mayawati has become the Chief Minister four times in Uttar Pradesh, which has a 20 percent Dalit population, but Delhi, which has a 17 percent Dalit population, has not got a Dalit Chief Minister till now.
Dr. Vivek Kumar is a professor at the Center for the Study of Social Systems, School of Social Sciences, Jawaharlal Nehru University.
Professor Vivek Kumar explains about Dalit politics in Delhi, “In a metropolis like Delhi, it is difficult to identify Dalits under the politics of Dalit identity. The 17 percent population is scattered in Delhi. Their population is not organized. If this population is not organized, then 17 percent can increase the seats of others but cannot become a big identity for themselves politically. They are scattered in different assembly constituencies, so they are not able to win together.”
read more:- India won a decade long legal battle
