As Rahul Gandhi eyes Dalit consolidation through Kanshi Ram in U.P., BSP gets unsettled, political slugfest intensified

Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi, aims to mobilise Dalits in Uttar Pradesh for the Congress party and sharpen the party’s overall social justice centric narrative, by demanding Bharat Ratna for Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) founder Kanshi Ram.

Promising to follow the late leader’s path by fighting for the issues of marginalised sections, it has unsettled the BSP and its leader Mayawati, while the Congress party in U.P. is enthusiastic about Mr. Gandhi efforts, hoping the continuous outreach towards Bahujans will further consolidate the Dalit, Extremely Backward Classes (EBC) support in favour of Congress, which was seen in 2024 Lok Sabha.

Mr. Gandhi, in the past few days, took multiple moves signalling bold outreach towards Dalits, through Kanshi Ram. Addressing a ‘Samvidhan Sammelan’ programme on March 13, organised by the state congress in Lucknow ahead of the Kanshi Ram’s birth anniversary, Mr. Gandhi claimed that if his great-grandfather, India’s first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru, had been alive at the time of Kanshi Ram’s rise, he would have been made Chief Minister from the Congress.

“If Jawaharlal Nehru were alive, then Kanshi Ram would have been a Chief Minister from the Congress,” he said and accepted that the Congress was unsuccessful in fully discharging its responsibilities in the past, which forced leaders like Kanshi Ram to chart their own political path.

On Kanshi Ram’s birth anniversary on Sunday (March 15, 2026), he wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi demanding India’s highest civilian honour, the Bharat Ratna, for Kanshi Ram. The outreach is a renewed effort to engage with the Dalits, a large social group constituting roughly 21% of the total electorate in U.P. and positioning the Congress as the staunch advocates for the issues faced by the marginalised community.

“At present, when the atrocities against Dalits have reached a new height under the BJP government in Uttar Pradesh, the ideas of Kanshi Ram, the founder of BSP and Dalit Shoshit Samaj Sangharsh Samiti (DS-4), are more relevant than ever in the State. Our leader, Rahul Gandhi, is raising the issues of the Dalits and all marginalised sections vocally. It is therefore natural that ideas of Kanshi Ram and B.R. Ambedkar centered around social justice, inspire him. If you look at the Congress party’s agenda, social justice is at the core,” said Anil Yadav, a senior U.P. Congress leader. 

Unsettled with the outreach, Ms. Mayawati, the president of the BSP, accused the Congress of constantly trying to weaken the BSP, the party founded by Kanshi Ram, through various tactics.

“This same Congress party, while in power at the centre, did not declare even a single day of national mourning upon his (respected Shri Kanshi Ram’s) death, nor did the Samajwadi Party government in Uttar Pradesh declare a state mourning. Now, all these parties are constantly trying to weaken the BSP, the party founded by the respected Shri Kanshi Ram, by using various tactics. Therefore, their followers and supporters should always be vigilant against them. Especially, they must be wary of the Congress Party, whose anti-Dalit thinking and mentality is what led to the formation of the BSP,” she alleged.

The Samajwadi Party (SP) is not directly reacting to Mr. Gandhi’s attempts but signalling that all the demands are already raised by the U.P. Centric party. “We all want Bharat Ratna for late Kanshi Ram Ji,” said the SP president Akhilesh Yadav. 

Analysts point out that bold assertions by Rahul Gandhi need to translate into action on the ground to shift a sizeable Dalit support in favour of Congress.

“It is a fact that a section of Dalit votes shifted to Congress-led INDIA alliance in 2024 polls, with the ‘save the constitution’ plank of Mr. Gandhi working in opposition’s favour. But, bold assertions and acceptance of Congress unsuccessful in fully discharging its responsibilities in the past by Rahul Gandhi, has limitation, for gaining a large and continuous Dalit support his words need to translate by Congress workers through action on ground by fighting for issues concerning Dalit community at local level much like the BSP used to do in 1990s and early 2000s,” said Asad Rizvi, a Lucknow based analyst.