Punjab assembly polls: The Dera factor

Punjab Assembly Election 2022: Over 2.14 crore to vote on Sunday; 1,304 candidates in fray

In terms of the urban-rural dimension, the overwhelming majority of Mazhabi Sikhs and a significant section of Balmikis are located in rural areas engaged as farm labourers in the fields of landed Jatt Sikhs, while a majority of Chamars and a significant number of Balmikis are found in urban centres wherein while the former have witnessed occupational diversities on account of their early exposure to economic opportunities, the latter are confined to scavenging and cleaning jobs.

These divergent intra-Dalit sociopolitical dynamics in Punjab translated into fragmented politico-cultural articulations by various Dalit subcastes wherein the cultural aspects constituted the political response. In the early 1970s, after the fusion of the religio-agrarian identity of Sikhs started posing a serious challenge to the political dominance of the Congress, the party responded by appointing a non-Jatt Sikh, Giani Zail Singh, a carpenter by caste, as the CM.

With the twin aims of uplifting the most backward Mazhabi Sikh and Balmiki Dalits and ensuring a social cleavage in the politics of the unified Sikh identity played by the upper caste Jatt Sikhs, he came up with a 1975 government notification of reserving half of the SC quota of 25 percent in State government jobs exclusively for these two castes. As a Congress leader, he aimed to win over the two castes as there was speculation that the emerging primacy of this religious-political framework may consolidate the Mazhabi Sikhs in the fold of the Akalis and Balmikis in the fold of the Jan Sangh. By the mid-1980s, with the emergence of the BSP, the Chamar/Ad-Dharmis/Ravidasi/Ramdasi Sikhs shifted significantly to that party by deserting the Congress — a pattern that continued till 1997 when the BSP as a potential Dalit party in Punjab declined.

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Thus the failed emergence of unified Dalit politics, despite having assertive social movements on the ground, led to the primacy of caste-centric cultural-politics among Dalit groups who despite the egalitarian rhetoric compete with each other rather than strive for solidarity and alliance. Interestingly, the cultural politics of Dalit caste groups mediate through the various Deras, which challenge the cultural hegemony of the Jatt Sikhs who control institutions like the SGPC. These cultural assertions of various Dalit groups via religious symbols are primarily caste-centric.

In this fragmented Dalit discourse, the role of the Deras, the caste-centric appeal of various political parties and intra-caste dynamics would emerge as potential determinants of electoral articulation by various Dalit caste groups.

Deras in Punjab signifies both socio-religious and political congregation centres. The fact that contrary to the textual claims Sikhism is pervaded by caste segregation, at the village level, it is a common sight to find separate gurudwaras for the Dalit Sikhs across Punjab. With a more popular plank and resonating this caste cleavage, Deras signify the sites of anti-Panthik politics of Jatt-Sikhs which revolve around the organised body of SGPC. Not only are they popular among the Dalit Sikhs and Hindus, but their support is also as strong among the other backward castes from both religious persuasions, besides enjoying sizeable traction among the caste Hindus. While, different Deras, like Dera Sacha Sauda, Radha Soami Satsang and Dera Sachkhand Ballan among the others like Nirankaris and Namdharis have their respective pockets of influence among different communities and sub-regions, politically they have been frustrating the hegemonic quest of Jatt-Sikh based Panthik politics in Punjab since the mid-1950s when the Akalis launched a movement for a Sikh majority Punjabi Suba. Even after the creation of Punjab as a Sikh majority state in 1966, the puritan panthik politics represented by the Akalis never got the electoral majority, as besides Hindus, majority of the Dalit Sikhs rallied behind the Congress, thereby investing Deras with colossal political influence.

Against this backdrop, in the ensuing assembly election, going by the zeal of reaching out to the populous but politically divided Dalits, the Akalis had a head start when they aligned with the BSP. Their expectation was to mobilise the urban Mazhabi Sikh Dalits on the plank of Sikhkhism and the urban non-Mazhabi Dalits in Doaba regions through the BSP. Initially, that seemed a plausible move with a potential electoral dividend. However, the Congress played its own Dalit card by appointing Charanjit Singh Channi, a Ravidasiya Dalit, as the interim chief minister following the resignation of Capt. Amarinder Singh.

While the Dalit Salit Mazhabi Sikhs, residing predominantly in the rural areas across the state, are expected to be divided among the Akalis and the Congress, the electoral choices of other Dalit communities are mediated through the factors of their affiliation to various Deras and political parties along with sub-regional dynamics. Thus, in the Malwa region the majority of the non-Mazhabi Dalits are expected to rally behind either Congress and the AAP. The recent move of releasing Dera Sacha Sauda chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh on furlough by the BJP ruled government in Haryana on the eve of elections has generated goodwill among the Dera followers but isn’t likely to translate into a desirable pro-BJP vote on account of low winnability quotient for the saffron party. Similarly, in the Doaba region, particularly in Jalandhar and Kapurthala, the Congress seems to have a decisive edge over the Akalis. Nevertheless, given the legacy of Kanshi Ram and the commuted supporters of the BSP in the region, a section of Dalits would also support the Akalis on political grounds.

Hence against the backdrop of this contested pull and push for the populous Dalit community in Punjab, there is one bottling, which can be said with finality: While the Dalit factor seems to be taking a backseat in the Uttar Pradesh elections, in the case of Punjab, both the Dalits and Deras have acquired centre stage.