Prelude to the UP elections -I

Election campaign heats up in the cold, dusty fiels of the politically vital state of Uttar Pradesh (known as UP), part of the cowbelt on the great gangetic plains. It is this heartland of Indian politics which sends the majority of MPs to our Parliament and is the state which has sent us the majority of Prime ministers.

A win in the state of UP can be make or break time for the fortune of a party -  a state where caste and communal factors factor in in deciding the winner. With Muslims solidly behind SP, the Upper castes behind BJP and the lower caste behind BSP,  they form the base of the respective parties. They need to scavenge out chunks from each other's base to carve out a winning formula.

I am reminded of my Engineering college days in REC (now NIT) where a sizable number of the students came from the cowbelt which includes the states of UP and Bihar (Both then had Uttarakhand and Jharkhand as part of them). They were great guys, but occasionally some of them would whisper around my ears ISKA JAAT KAA HAI (what's his caste), curious to know about the caste of few Odias, mostly their roommates, trying to connect their castes it to the caste of their Odia counterparts. 

For example, they linked our KARANA caste to KAYAST. The caste Brahmin was self explanatory, though they struggled a lot whether to align our KHANDAYAT caste to Rajputs or Bhumihars.

As a teenager, who had hardly travelled outside Odisha, I found it rather strange.

Odias might have tons of lacunae, but such rampant and naked casteism is not one of them. I found their behavior little weird and uncomfortable, not to mention noticing a few of the upper caste folks from the cowbelt would avoid sitting on the Mess Dining Table with certain guys, whom they perceived as from lower caste or strata of the society. The thought of not sharing a meal with someone never came to our mind, churning my stomach.

Caste is not just A factor, it is THE factor in UP politics, which can only be ignored by any political party at its own peril. No doubt the realpolitik in UP is laced with casteism (as well as communalism), a slight swing of votes can swing the elections in either direction.

(Last and the concluding part of the blog to be continued tomorrow)