Will SC/ST Act conundrum hit BJP's voter base in Madhya Pradesh? 'It will have zero effect', says party

Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is banking on the image that its chief minister in Madhya Pradesh, Shivraj Singh Chouhan, has built over the course of his three terms. However, the party faces an unforeseen conundrum in the run-up to assembly polls — the wrath of the upper castes, as well as that of the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (SC/STs) in the state.In a ruling on March 20, the Supreme Court cited “instances of abuse” of the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe (Prevention of Atrocities) Act by “vested interests” for political or personal purposes, and laid down certain provisions to ensure that the Act is not misused. These provisions included anticipatory bail and a “preliminary inquiry” before registering a case under the Act. Moreover, the apex court also stated that a public servant would be arrested under the aegis of the Act only when the appointing authority grants permission for the same.

The ruling was criticised by SC/ST groups and the Opposition, which urged the Centre to intervene. Senior leaders within the National Democratic Alliance (NDA)— headed by the BJP— expressed concern and wanted the government to ensure that the provisions introduced by the SC are not misused.

In April, Madhya Pradesh witnessed a spate of violent incidents after SC/ST groups called for a Bharat Bandh to protest against the ruling. Six people were killed and dozens injured during clashes, which occurred reportedly between SC/ST and upper caste groups. After this, the central government brought a legislation to overturn the Supreme Court order during the Monsoon Session of Parliament. The legislation, passed in both houses, helped in restoring the older provisions of the SC/ST Act.

This, in turn, led to agitation by upper caste groups, which called for a statewide shutdown in September to protest against the government’s move. CM Shivraj Singh Chouhan came under physical attack when from upper caste groups pelted stones at his ‘Jan Ashirwad Rath Yatra’ and hurled a shoe at him during his rally in Sidhi district.

The developments have put the state BJP unit a fix. “It’s a challenge,” said Anil Saumitra, the party's media coordinator in the state. “But it is all a part of political agenda. Why is only Madhya Pradesh witnessing these protests? Uttar Pradesh and Bihar have the most amount of caste consolidation as far as north India is concerned, but you didn’t see the kind of protests in those states,” Saumitra told Moneycontrol, adding that the “long and short of all these protests is to create a divide between the two social groups and engineer a loss for the BJP.”

According to the 2009 Census, out of the total population of the state, 15.2 percent is Scheduled Caste while 20.3 is Scheduled Tribe. The state has 35 seats reserved for SCs and 47 reserved for STs in the assembly. At 65 percent, the percentage of people voting according to caste is the highest in Madhya Pradesh, a recent CSDS survey has revealed.

The upper castes and the OBCs have been the BJP’s traditional voter base, while the SC/STs have preferred to vote for the Congress. However, the pattern changed in 2013 when the BJP managed to secure 36 percent votes from the SCs, improving from 31 percent in 2009 assembly elections, according to a CSDS survey. The party managed to do even better during the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, held five months after the assembly polls when it secured up to 43 percent Scheduled Caste vote. The saffron party had also managed to significantly increase its Scheduled Tribe voter base during the Lok Sabha polls, where it secured 54 percent of the ST vote, which traditionally went to Congress.

Observers say Chouhan risks angering both his traditional voter base in upper caste groups and the newly acquired base in the SC/ST group if he tilts either way. “Our strategy is not to make any statement on such issues and carry on with our ‘Sabka Saath Sabka Vikas’ programme,” Saumitra said. However, Chouhan recently made a statement where he assured the protesting upper caste groups that his government will not allow the Act to be “misused”.

“The SC/ST Act will not be misused in MP and arrests will not be made without investigation,” Chouhan had said, adding that a directive will be issued to that effect. This caused the Opposition parties to question Chouhan’s comment. “The chief minister is not above the law. I am asking him (Chouhan) if he had taken advice and permission from Prime Minister Narendra Modi,” Madhya Pradesh Congress President Kamal Nath had retorted.

Responding to Nath’s statement, Saumitra said, “Congress didn’t say anything when the legislation was passed in Parliament. When you supported us in Parliament, where laws are made, why are you supporting people out on streets who want to cause only disruption?”

The Samanya Pichhda Alpsankhayak Kalyan Samaj (SAPAKS), a party claiming to represent the interests of the upper caste, has now decided to contest on all 230 seats in Madhya Pradesh. Meanwhile, SC/ST groups are up in arms against the state government. The Chouhan administration, according to experts, is thus caught between a rock and a hard place. Will this affect the BJP's voter base?

"Zero. It will have zero effect on our voter base," Saumitra asserts.