New Delhi: “Ek akela sab pe bhaari (One person alone can have an impact),” said Bhim Army chief and founder of the Aazad Samaj Party (Kanshi Ram) Chandra Shekhar Aazad, who has recorded a resounding victory in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections by winning Uttar Pradesh’s Nagina seat by a margin of over 1.5 lakh votes.
While the INDIA alliance – including the Samajwadi Party and Congress – strategy to field more OBCs and Dalits helped them outmuscle the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the fight for “social justice”, handing the saffron party its worst defeat in India’s largest state in a decade, Aazad’s victory from Nagina is no mean feat. The victory margin between him and BJP’s Om Kumar is over 1.5 lakh, and that of the Samajwadi Party’s Manoj Kumar is over 4.1 lakh.
In an interview to The Wire, Aazad said that it was not the opposition but the people of the country who fought to defeat the BJP.
“I believe that this time the people of the country have fought these elections and not the opposition. The people of the country fought to defeat the BJP in this election, against their policies and their statements and their arrogance. And if any other party attempts this again in the future, even they will meet the same fate that the BJP has today.”
Illustration: Pariplab Chakraborty
Aazad’s victory comes less than a year after he sustained a bullet injury when his convoy was shot at in Saharanpur. Long known as a grassroots political activist, Aazad was arrested and spent two days in judicial custody in Jaipur after reaching the city to join a protest by COVID Health Assistants, demanding permanent positions. In December 2019 he was arrested and jailed for a month after he led a protest against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act in Delhi. In September 2018, he was released after 15 months in jail after being booked under the National Security Act in case about the violence that took place in Shabbirpur, a village in Saharanpur district, in May 2017.
In 2022 he contested against Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath from Gorakhpur but finished fourth.
Aazad has dedicated his victory to Dr B.R. Ambedkar and Kanshi Ram, while his entry into the Lok Sabha is being seen as a part of a churn in Dalit politics in the state, a space that was long held by former Uttar Pradesh chief minister Mayawati, whose Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) has failed to open its account in the state in these elections.
He speaks to The Wire on his journey an his priorities as an MP. Read edited excerpts below.
You have won with a huge margin of over 1.5 lakh votes from Nagina. After over a decade of ground work, you are now entering parliament. What are your first thoughts on this victory?
When I appeared in Time magazine, I felt a responsibility that a perception has been created of India, and this should not be wasted and I should fulfil this responsibility. From that day, as the leader of the Bhim Army, of the Azad Samaj Party along with all our workers, we set a target that we have to have an MP in Parliament in 2024.
In this election in Uttar Pradesh, we contested on two seats – Nagina and Domaraiaganj. In Domaraiaganj, the decision to contest was taken one day before the last day of filing nominations but we secured more than 80,000 votes and in Nagina we got more than five lakh votes. Those parties who were contesting against us, all of them did not get even 48% vote share combined – because NOTA was also included in that – and we got 52% votes. This is the hard work of our party, and the struggle of the Bhim Army for the last 10-11 years. The people of Nagina have given their blessings and I am very grateful to them. I am thankful to the Bahujan mahapurush particularly Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar and Kanshi Ram. If there was no Constitution, then today a primary school teacher’s son would not be able to become a member of parliament. Kanshiram taught us that if we prepare our Bahujan samaj, then we too can be part of politics.
Also read: In UP, Mayawati’s BSP Failed to Play Spoiler for Opposition, Hurt BJP More
From being attacked last year, to being jailed earlier, it has been a long struggle. Though the Azad Samaj Party is new, you put up a fight in the assembly elections in Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan as well. What does victory mean for the Bahujan community?
This is a moment of pride for the Bahujan samaj. But the fact is that the legacy that has been continuing is that those who have resources, perception, political power, their capacity has been reduced while the workers of the Azad Samaj Party and the courage they have shown has increased. So this is a very positive message. Different groups and parties are now reposing their faith in the Azad Samaj Party and I think that the coming days will be ours as we are ready to fight. We are happy with this result but we are not satisfied. We are developing our organisation, preparing for bypolls in UP, Rajasthan and will soon spread to other states.
During the elections, social justice, caste census were all words used by the Congress and INDIA alliance. They also brought up the issue of protecting the Constitution. These are issues that you have been raising on the ground for many years. How will you present these issues in parliament and what will be your priorities as an MP?
My priority is that even after 75 years of independence, people don’t have basic amenities. Those who have been in power at the centre, they have not given these rights to the people. Whether it is giving reservations in promotions to SC/ST/OBCs, or farmers’ issues or providing free and equal education, healthcare, and simplifying the access to the justice system. A poor person cannot approach the supreme court and the high court. So how will they get justice? Does a poor person have Rs 5-10 lakh to move Supreme Court and get expensive lawyers especially when there are 80 crore people who are dependent on free rations in this country? There is an alliance of the government and big entrepreneurs. We will try to fight this alliance and raise the basic issues of the people in parliament that forces them to think of the poor.
Along with you, young Dalit leaders from Uttar Pradesh including the Samajwadi Party’s Priya Saroj, Pushpendra Saroj have also won on the plank of social justice and welfare. With increased representation, do you see the dynamics of parliamentary politics changing?
They all belong to my family but the question is whether their party will allow them to raise such issues in parliament or not. And whether these parties are ready to take a stand in parliament beyond the election campaign. This will be clear now in parliament. Giving speeches during elections and raising them in parliament are completely different. The Supreme Court has said that SC/ST/OBC should get reservations in promotions. But no government has been able to ensure that it is done – whether is the Congress or the BJP or even the AAP in Punjab and Delhi. I think there should not be any difference in people’s words and actions. But I will try to ensure that the promises that they made to the people during elections should be raised in parliament as well.
It is being said that the big loss that the BJP suffered in UP is partly because of the statements made by leaders like Arun Govil and Lallu Singh who said that 400 seats are necessary to change the Constitution. The Congress then raised the issue that the BJP is trying to change the Constitution. Another view is that the results in UP show that the voices of the Dalits have spoken. How do you see this?
There are two things. Lallu Singh could not save himself. Arun Govil, who played Ram in a serial, has just about managed to save himself. Those who speak against the Constitution will not be forgiven by the people of the country. Their top leaders had to come in to do damage control. The way the prime minister was seen bowing to the Constitution shows that he has understood what happens if you speak against the Constitution in this country. Instead of 400 seats they could have come down to even 200 seats. If the opposition had been intelligent, the results could have been vastly different.
The Dalit voter is very intelligent. I believe that they understand the Constitution, its power, reservations and the government’s duties very well. There is a lot of awareness now among backward communities. I believe that this time the people of the country have fought these elections and not the opposition. The people of the country fought to defeat the BJP in this election, against their policies and their statements and their arrogance. And if any other party attempts this again in the future, even they will meet the same fate that the BJP has today.
Before 1950, our community did not have the freedom to be educated. But since then people from our community have become well educated, some have started writing, and our ideology and thoughts have come to the mainstream. Now Dalits and Adivasis are ready to think critically and understand the speeches made by political leaders. This is a huge change that has been brought by the Constitution and education has played a big role.
That is why I keep talking about simplifying the education system. Governments should focus on providing education and not privatise the sector, making it inaccessible. India’s largest population lives in villages so if education is made accessible in villages, only then can lives improve. This will only be possible when the son of a primary school teacher, the zilla adhikari’s son, the MLA’s son, the MP’s son, the CM’s son and the PM’s son all study in the same school as the poor kisan mazdoor‘s son. Only then will better education come to these schools. The responsibility is on us to make sure this happens.
Aazad Samaj Party MP Chandra Shekhar Aazad. Photo: Special arrangement
Mayawati, who had been the face of Bahujan politics, has blamed Muslims [for her party’s loss], saying BSP lost because of Muslims. How do you see that?
The onus of loss should not be placed on anyone’s head. I don’t want to say anything about internal things in her party and what she has said, but it is easy to blame Muslims.
You said to The Wire last year that alliances can only happen if they align on your ideology and principles. Now that the BJP has fallen short of a majority, has anyone approached you, whether from the BJP or the INDIA alliance?
I said one year ago as well that an alliance will happen if we align ideologically. I don’t see anyone adhering to our ideology. Everyone is committed to their own party. Many people who were talking about Ambedkar during the elections have forgotten him after the elections. So our community should be cautious of such people.
Also read: Akhilesh Yadav’s ‘PDA’ Trumps Modi-Adityanath’s Hindutva in Uttar Pradesh
You are not supporting the INDIA alliance and no one from the BJP has approached you, then?
I am standing with the people of this country and the Constitution. And what kind of alliance is this that it fights separately in Punjab, against each other in Bengal? The alliance should decide first what it wants to do. One of the biggest faces of this alliance, who started the alliance is now a close ally of the BJP. If he withdraws his support, maybe the BJP won’t even be able to form the government. So only then know what kind of an alliance they are. My responsibility is only towards the Azad Samaj Party, the Bahujan samaj, and the kisan-mazdoor of this country, and I will fulfil my responsibility towards them.
You are independent from these alliances?
Yes. Ek akela sab pe bhaari.
The BJP’s entire campaign has been about targeting Muslims. In a way the BJP tried to create a wedge between SC/ST/OBCs and Muslims by claiming that their rights will be snatched and given to Muslims. How will you be addressing all these issues in parliament?
They will keep trying to divide and we will keep trying to unite. We will build a brotherhood in such a way that we will end their capacity to try to divide. If not today, then tomorrow either they will stop this or the country will make them stop such divisive politics.
