Kashyap, a journalist at The Caravan who reported extensively on the 2022 Uttar Pradesh elections, shares his insights in an exclusive interview with The Mandate.
By Sushmita Dey
How would you assess this year's Uttar Pradesh election? What were the changes you witnessed and what were you expecting out of it while working on the ground?
Witnessing the rallies, and campaigns in Uttar Pradesh, I was quite sure that the Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) would return to power in the state. However, this year, there were numerous changes. Samajwadi Party (SP) was forming alliances with Om Prakash Rajbar, president of Suheldev Bharatiya Samaj Party, Sanjay Chauhan, Janwadi Party, Keshav Dev Maurya and Mahan Dal.
Besides this, in the beginning, people from OBC backgrounds were joining them, in abundance, during the rallies, but we weren’t sure how many would convert this ‘togetherness’ into votes, and how many would leave them.
From burning pyres and patients gasping for breath to bodies floating down the Ganga, UP saw the worst horrors of the pandemic. What made the people there vote for the BJP despite this grim reality?
The whole issue, in this case, is because of the caste conflict. We forgot to count those communities, which have 2000-3000 seats in the assembly.
While travelling in Banaras, I met a ragpicker who belongs to the Thatera caste. Earlier, people from this community used to make bronze and copper utensils, and then sell them to the Khajuha market. They make up around 4000 vote share in the assembly. When I asked if they were still making utensils, he said, “No, because there are many companies who are doing the same work. So, we pick garbage and earn money through it.”
Then, I questioned whom will you vote for this year, he said, “BJP! Because they have given us rations in the wake of the pandemic when we didn’t have any money to buy food for our family.”
Over the years, BJP has given more importance to the caste equations in UP than any other party.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi makes repeated mentions of the great old leaders in his speech. What role has this played in the BJP’s strategy over the years?
If you look closely, when Narendra Modi goes to Banaras, he speaks about Suheldev because a majority of the people from the Rajbhar community reside there. Recently, when Modi visited the Kashi Vishwanath Temple corridor - he installed Queen Ahilya Bai Holkar’s statue because there are Pal and Gadaria community people ( five to six per cent population in UP).
The BJP party ensured that they did something for every caste in the country to get maximum votes. This year, the party created a Kesh Kala Board for the barber community, Vishwakarma Board to evolve ironsmiths and Sheep Development Board for the Gadaria community. These small intricacies and strengthening each community helped them to gain more votes in the state, which SP couldn’t break.
SP got Yadav, Muslims, and OBC votes, but they failed to draw the non-Yadav OBC votes away from BJP. Over the years, I’ve seen that BJP has always been successful in taking its projects to the general public.
What is your view on ‘lesser’ criminal activities in Uttar Pradesh?
It depends on which community you’re asking this question to. While reporting in UP, I’ve talked to Dalits and other marginalised caste people, who are still suffering because of the dominant castes. Plus, this year, only two communities ‘Thakur’ and ‘Yadav’ were contesting in the election. So, things are still the same, it’s just communities looking at different directions with a different perspective.
Could you comment on the strategy of parties in the coming years and who, according to you, will rule in 2024?
To be honest, right now, it's very difficult to comment on this. The way BJP works is way much better than another party - BJP works only for elections and votes.
During the farmer's protest, we all thought it's would bring a greater change in UP, but unfortunately, it didn't happen. Especially in western UP.
Could you highlight issues, you found while ground reporting, that weren’t brought up or perhaps people were unaware of during elections?
I have a friend who works as a teacher in Etawah. We talked about how in her town, college girls are facing challenges due to online classes. Because no phone is given to them, and no one discussed it in a larger context.
The question is very simple. How many college girls have a phone with them, and how many can even use it. A similar situation persists within our health department. It might be possible that the parties write it in their manifesto, but we never heard about this from the leaders on stage.
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