Apart from burning issues like unemployment, inflation, agrarian crisis, rural distress, etc., the slogan of ‘Save Constitution, Save Democracy’ had a nationwide impact on non-Hindutva Bahujan voters. At the cost of the marginalization of their political voices, like the BSP, it resulted in their en masse voting for the INDIA bloc. In fact, INDIA bloc’s campaign reminded us that the Bahujan agenda was missing since Ambedkar’s death in 1956 and Kanshi Ram’s ill health in 2003. In 2000, when the Vajpayee government proposed a review of the Constitution, Kanshi Ram asked the government to clarify which parts required a review and the reasons behind it.

Sensing an “anti-Constitutional” intent, he took to the streets, arranged nationwide jeep marches, directed his MPs to stall the functioning of Parliament, and also conducted seminars and people’s parliaments across India. His efforts led to the closure of the Constitution review project. His message 24 years ago was clear: save the Constitution, which is “Ambedkar’s heritage”. He also never relied on other parties to defend or protect the Constitution.

In fact, Bahujans voting for INDIA bloc is in contrast to the radical discourse of Jyotirao Phule, Ambedkar, Kanshi Ram and others. Ambedkar’s first political move before the Southborough Commission in 1919 was the demand for the right to vote and a separate representation electorate. His warning in the Constituent Assembly on November 25, 1949 — that “the downtrodden classes are tired of being governed” — speaks volumes about the strength of political power. Against this backdrop, how the Bahujans will secure their share in the national wealth is a million-dollar question.

The track record of governments is not encouraging. Then there are some political parties in the INDIA bloc with feudal-casteist mindsets and a history of anti-Constitutional culture. These parties have refused to acknowledge Ambedkar’s contribution to the constitutional revolution. Still, putting national needs above all and keeping their agenda of acquiring political power in cold storage for the time being, the Bahujans wholeheartedly voted to save democracy. Now, it is now the duty of the INDIA bloc to rise to the challenge.

Missionary activists and Bahujan youth now have a few choices. They should heed Ambedkar’s warnings — that “you need a power to destroy the power on the other side” and “political power is the master key” — to resolve the manifold structural problems of the Bahujans. This was taken further by Kanshi Ram’s slogan of “Vote hamara, raj tumhara? Nahi chalega, nahi chalega (Our vote, your rule? This will not do)”. Both Ambedkar and Kanshi Ram advised people to wage a relentless struggle to regain lost rights and not to depend on others for their rights, share and welfare.

Nearly all Bahujan revolts in India were to reconstruct Indian society. Therefore, political power was a weapon to achieve that and not the ultimate goal. If we have to achieve a complete transformation of society by establishing liberty, equality, fraternity and justice, how long is the movement going to depend on other political parties? The Bahujans love the Constitution and are proud of it. They consider it the only protective umbrella after Ambedkar. However, they hardly make any consistent efforts to become the executives of the Constitution.

Suresh Mane is the president of the Bahujan Republican Socialist Party and the former BSP general secretary

Suraj Yengde, author of ‘Caste Matters’, curates Dalitality, has returned to Harvard University