As BJP seeks Dalit votes in MP, Modi hails Ravidas, says ‘held firm’ under Mughals

A day after his government introduced three Bills overhauling the criminal system, underlining that these were a break from the colonial legacy, Modi said: “Today, with this very sentiment (instilled by Ravidas), the country is moving forward, breaking free from the shackles of slavery mentality.”

Sant Ravidas enjoys a huge following among the Dalits. The Scheduled Caste (SC) community accounts for around 17% of MP’s population, with Sant Ravidas’s followers believed to form the biggest chunk. Of the state’s total 230 Assembly seats, 35 are reserved for Dalits. In the last Assembly elections, the BJP had won 18, with 17 going to the Congress.

Protests over a perceived dilution of the SC/ST Act, and the government crackdown, were seen as having turned the Dalit vote away from the BJP in 2018, causing the number of SC-reserved seats won by it to plunge.

The BJP has been trying to woo back the Dalits, and Ravidas is a big part of its plans. The temple-laying ceremony marked the culmination of five ‘Sant Ravidas Samrasta (harmony) Yatras’ launched by the BJP last month, which travelled through 46 districts, bringing in “soil gathered from 53,000 villages and water from 315 water bodies”.

While it was the third time Modi was in MP in just over a month – after a July 1 visit to Shahdol, and June 27 to Bhopal, where his speech set off speculation about his government plans for a Uniform Civil Code – the state government has also held several other events in the name of Ravidas.

Earlier this year, Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan held a ‘Sant Ravidas Mahakumbh’ to celebrate his life and works, and announced a special pilgrimage train to take his disciples to his birthplace, Varanasi.

During the event at Sagar, Modi said it is “our responsibility to advance our heritage and learn lessons from the past”, reminding the crowd that “as a nation, we have traversed thousands of years, and in such a long span, some evils coming into society is natural”.

Going on to talk about the circumstances through which Ravidas lived during the Mughal rule, the PM said: “The strength of Indian society lies in producing great individuals, saints, and leaders who emerge… to eliminate these challenges. Sant Ravidas was one such great saint. He was born in an era when Mughal rule prevailed over the country, and society was grappling with instability, oppression and injustice. Even during those times, Sant Ravidas was awakening society, showing it the path, and teaching it to combat its flaws.”

Ravidas was “addressing social wrongs on one hand and igniting the spirit of the nation on the other”, Modi said.

The Prime Minister also spoke about the efforts undertaken by BJP governments to benefit marginalised communities. “Today, the government is providing appropriate respect and new opportunities to the Dalits, the underprivileged, the backward, and the tribal communities of the country. Neither are these sections weak in society nor is their history weak. Extraordinary personalities have emerged from these sections of society, playing an exceptional role in the nation’s development. Therefore, today the country takes pride in preserving their legacy,” Modi said.

He spoke about the government’s efforts during Covid-19 to “prevent crores of poor Indians from going hungry”. “I’m well aware of the pain of hunger and the dignity of the poor. I am a member of your own family, and understanding your joys and sorrows doesn’t require me to read books. That’s why we initiated the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana. It ensured free rations to more than 80 crore people.”

In the past, government schemes were influenced by electoral considerations. However, he said, “Our belief is that at every stage of life, the country should stand by the Dalits, the underprivileged, the marginalised, the tribals, and women, providing them with the support they need to fulfil their hopes and aspirations.”

Among the other programmes he mentioned were the National Sickle Cell Anaemia Elimination Mission, the Tuberculosis Free India campaign to eliminate the disease by 2025, and the Matru Vandana Yojana that provides pregnant mothers with Rs-6,000 stipend to ensure the health of the mother and the child.

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