By FIROSE KC Team,
In the wake of upcoming Local Body Elections in Kerala, FIROSE KC talks to the leaders of three newly evolved backward community parties – Janakeeya Vikasana Munnani, Social Democratic Party of India and Dalit Human Rights Movement and finds out what changes they could bring to the traditional voting equations among Muslims and Dalits.
As Kerala’s elections to the local self-government institutions are scheduled to be held in two phases on October 23 and 25, a set of newly formed parties from the backward communities of Muslims and Dalits are preparing themselves hard to test their mettle. The parties are none other than Janakeeya Vikasana Munnani (JVM), Social Democratic Party of India (SDPI) and Dalit Human Rights Movement (DHRM). JVM, as it is known in most of the places it contests, is backed by the Kerala unit of Jamat-e-Islami Hind. SDPI is a recently announced political organization supported by Popular Front of India (PFI). DHRM is an independent organization of Dalits that works for community uplift, mainly in south Kerala.
Obviously, the challenge from these parties in most of the places might look meager in comparison with the huge traditional vote bank of parties with enviable histories. However, all these parties can pose serious challenge at places. They might even alter conventional equations in certain quarters of the state. There can be surprises waiting. Simply, they aim at votes from supporters of other parties too. There has been a dichotomy of political dynamism between these new parties and the long-existing parties. For example, JIH’s youth wing, Solidarity stole the attention of various issue-based agitation committees, by actively involving in a number of grassroots issues. SDPI, on the other hand, gathered support from a sizable number of Muslims and disillusioned Dalits. It is true that the recent hand chopping incident has reduced the public acceptability of SDPI. In southern districts of Kerala, DHRM can threaten traditional Communist strongholds. When conventional parties with glorious histories were questionably absent in the scenes of grassroots fights, the newly formed parties were sowing seeds, to penetrate the hearts of people. In the upcoming elections, the leadership of traditional parties – mainly of Indian Union Muslim League (IUML) and Communist Party of India (Marxist) – might find it tough to maintain their traditional vote banks. The votes, more appallingly of the Muslim community, are going to be split and shared among political groups of different orientations.
The active presence of these newly evolved parties has made the election campaigning more complex and more competitive. Kerala’s political sphere is eagerly looking forward to the upcoming local body election. It could be a turning point in the political history of the state, if the new parties outshine old ones in important Panchayats and Corporations, no matter for better or worse.
For a long time the backward communities have been supporting mainstream political parties like CPI-M and Congress. Apart from IUML, both these parties have benefited from Muslim voters. However, the political stand of Dalits was by and large different from that of Muslims. With DHRM, Dalits are increasingly claiming a space for their identity and dignity in the socio-political life of Kerala, something even the nationalist Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) couldn’t do in the state. Mainly BJP and CPI-M had been benefitting from Dalits during elections.
However, SDPI and JVM also enjoy strong support from Dalits and some other backward communities. This time, BSP is also reportedly evolving new strategies, expecting a better performance in the election result.
“No corruption, no discrimination” is the campaign slogan by SDPI. Abdul Majeed Faisi, state General Secretary of SDPI, spoke to this reporter and said that his party approaches this election with an agenda for the progress of sidelined communities like Muslims and Dalits. The party keeps an equal distance from the Left Democratic Front and the United Democratic Front. “We do not have a state level alliance with any party, but we associate with certain parties at local level. SDPI argues for a better representation for the backward people in the administration. Our party offers local governance free from corruption and discrimination.” He said more than 4000 SDPI candidates will contest elections in Kerala to Panchayats, Municipalities and Corporations. SDPI is willing to align with parties of similar ideology.
“The backward communities like Muslims and Dalits comprise a non-ignorable portion of the population and hence the vote bank of the state. We strictly stand for proper representation of backward communities in administrative sectors, which only can be a solution for the backwardness of Muslims and Dalits”, Faisi added. In the last assembly by-election, SDPI had contested from Kannur constituency. Faisi himself was the candidate, who was rested with around 3000 votes.
DHRM, a movement formed to educate and create awareness among Dalits, has decided to enhance their presence to political pitch also. According to Selvaraj, Chairman of DHRM, Dalits in India are constantly kept away from the administrational level and policymaking processes. “As Dalits are an integral part of the nation, they should get proper representation in governance. Mainstream political parties like Congress, CPI-M and BJP have been utilizing Dalits merely as a huge vote bank. These parties have always tried to keep the interests of upper caste people and continue to neglect backward communities. We need self-empowerment to improve the condition of our community. Political and societal power is necessary to acquire our needs,” says Selvaraj.
DHRM is planning to contest from 400 Panchayats of eight districts of southern Kerala, where it is very active. Apart from these Panchayats, DHRM has announced their candidate list for selected Municipalities and for Thiruvananthapuram Corporation. In the coming election, DHRM would not have alliance with any others.
Seleena Prakkanam, a leading figure behind the Chengara land rights agitation and a State level guide of DHRM is optimistic. “The entry of DHRM as a political party will affect the vote bank of mainstream political parties. Since CPI-M has enjoyed the major part of the Dalit votes, they might be the big losers of the coming election. Having anticipated a tragedy, CPI-M has begun to destroy the Dalit unity and started demonizing DHRM. CPI-M and the police have been targeting DHRM activists by portraying them as terrorists”, says she. During the last parliamentary election DHRM had contested from Attingal constituency to win 5217 votes.
JIH also seems to be very serious in their debutant contest of Panchayat elections. Recent years, JIH’s support has been largely with the LDF, thanks to the overlapping anti-imperialist stands. When JIH didn’t side with LDF, they chose individual candidates from both alliances, based on political integrity and social morality of the candidates. “Vote for change”, announces the campaign posters of JVM. C Davood, a spokesperson of JIH, said, “Janakeeya Vikasana Munnani stands for public concerns. It offers a corruption-free administration. JVM is ready to align with any political party on local basis, but not with BJP and SDPI.” He opined that the government sponsored schemes and projects are kept away from the needy, nowadays. “Most of the funds are lapsed due to the improper utilization and ineffective planning. Corruption is the most important problem of the current system”, C Davood continued. JVM is planning to contest as much wards as possible in Panchayats, Municipalities and Corporations.
Even though JVM or SDPI or DHRM may not have a complete representation in the local body election, their presence itself terrifies the existing political alliances. An important common feature of all these newly evolved political parties is that they all emerged from backward communities. And more importantly, all of them are accused of being “fundamentalist” or “extremist” more or less by the mainstream political parties and the media. DHRM leaders were arrested and antagonized by the LDF government. The DHRM colonies were raided by the police and even women were tortured. Most of the mainstream media kept mum at the police atrocities. SDPI faced a kind of crackdown with a series of raids and arrests following the gruesome attack on Newman College Lecturer Joseph. JIH has been long accused of being the mother of all fundamentalisms.
However, the new parties do not seem to be afraid. They, in different words, argue that the state is under the monopoly of upper caste communities. The representatives of the upper caste people have been handling the power of the state since independence and that has deeply influenced the policymaking process. They point out that the basic reason for the underdevelopment of some communities is improper distribution of power in the society.
Kerala’s public, the traditional voters of LDF and UDF, will decide the fate and future of these new parties in the coming election. If these parties succeed in winning over backward community voters, it may badly affect both LDF and UDF. On the other hand, if the voters remain loyal with their traditional parties, the new ones will have to evolve tighter and brighter strategies.