The Daily PulseGeneral
SP leader's recitation of Ambedkar vows exposes fault lines in Dalit-OBC alliance
Reported by Abhishek Tiwari (Copy Editor) · The Hindu - National ·
Reported by one source so far
Photo: Wikimedia CommonsWhat Happened
Samajwadi Party spokesperson Rajkumar Bhati faced a reprimand from his party's top leadership and trolling from the Bharatiya Janata Party after participating in a Buddhist Dhamma Diksha ceremony in Delhi. During the annual event, Mr. Bhati joined a mass recitation of Dr. B.R. Ambedkar's 22 vows and repeated the controversial opening segments that reject Hindu deities including Brahma, Vishnu, Mahesh, Rama, and Krishna, while also refusing rituals performed by Brahmin priests. A Gurjar leader from western Uttar Pradesh, Mr. Bhati later faced an FIR and clarified that he recited the words out of respect for the organisers and Ambedkar without intending to change his religion.
Party Pressures
The incident highlights the limits of the Samajwadi Party's revival of Ram Manohar Lohia's policy of numerical aggregation, known as the PDA formula uniting Backward Classes, Dalits, and Minorities. While Mr. Bhati's Dalit push aimed to consolidate the roughly 40% OBC and 20% SC vote in the State, party heavyweights Ram Gopal Yadav and Shivpal Yadav distanced themselves from the event, with Mr. Ram Gopal threatening to strip him of his post and Mr. Shivpal declaring that they are believers in God. Political observers note the Yadav leadership struggles to separate its cultural ties to Lord Krishna, and party president Akhilesh Yadav has not taken a public stance on the episode.
Context
The 22 vows were originally drafted by Dr. B.R. Ambedkar when he embraced Buddhism in 1956 to ensure a complete break from the Hindu social order and its system of graded inequality. Similar political flashpoints have occurred previously, such as in 2022 when Delhi Minister Rajendra Pal Gautam took the same vows and faced intense political pressure before eventually resigning and joining the Congress.
ExplainerWhy this matters
What Happened
A Samajwadi Party spokesperson took part in a Buddhist ceremony in Delhi and recited Dr. B.R. Ambedkar's 22 vows, which explicitly reject Hindu deities and rituals, triggering backlash from the BJP and discomfort within his own party.
Why It Matters
This event lays bare the inherent contradictions in caste-based coalition politics in Uttar Pradesh. While opposition parties attempt to build a broad numerical alliance of OBCs and Dalits by celebrating Ambedkar, their leadership often relies on traditional cultural and religious ties that clash directly with Ambedkar's radical, anti-scriptural social reforms. It shows how difficult it is for mainstream political outfits to balance competitive electoral aggregation with deeply ingrained cultural identities.
What Happens Next
Political observers will watch whether the Samajwadi Party takes formal disciplinary action against Mr. Bhati or if the fallout pushes him toward other political platforms like the Congress, while parties continue to navigate the delicate arithmetic of the Dalit and backward-caste vote banks ahead of upcoming electoral battles.
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