At a recent high-level meeting in the state Congress headquarters in Lucknow, a detailed 15-day programme was designed after hearing the suggestions of prominent Dalit leaders from across the state. Sources said while the programme had not been officially announced yet, the first four sammelans were proposed to be held in Gorakhpur (eastern UP, CM Yogi Adtiyanath’s turf), Lucknow (central UP), Varanasi (eastern UP, PM Narendra Modi’s constituency), and Meerut (western UP).

Congress insiders said the steps were taken following directions from the Congress high command. “Dalits have traditionally been our supporters but in between, due to some misconception, they drifted away over time. However, in the recent elections, they supported us, either in the name of the Constitution or because of Rahul ji,” said Alok Prasad, head of the UP Congress’s Scheduled Caste (SC) department and vice-president of the UP Pradesh Congress Committee.

He said, “If the Dalits take a step to support us, it is now our responsibility to take one more step to reach out to them. There are instances of land grabbing, issues related to availing reservations, tricking people in the name of scholarships, etc. They supported us. It’s now our turn to listen to their issues and find solutions.”

Prasad said after starting the divisional-level ‘Dalit sammelans’ from Gorakhpur, a membership drive would be launched to have at least 1,000 recognisable and prominent Dalit faces from each Assembly segment. In coordination with the party’s district units, “Dalit chaupals” would also be held at least once every fortnight in areas dominated by Dalits.

Sources said the party was contemplating giving new responsibilities to prominent Dalit faces in the organisation to strengthen its SC unit at the grassroots. As part of the outreach, the party is also planning to approach professionals from the community, be it doctors, teachers, etc, and raise their issues.

Many see the Opposition’s push for getting Faizabad MP Awadhesh Prasad of the Samajwadi Party (SP) elected as the Lok Sabha Deputy Speaker as just another attempt to put the ruling BJP on the defensive, especially after Congress leader Rahul Gandhi highlighted his importance in the House, many within the Congress feel that giving prominence to Prasad will send the message among Dalits that the INDIA bloc is willing to give leadership roles to community members. Prasad is a Pasi Dalit, a community that has decisive numbers in many seats, especially in the Awadh region of UP.

Even according to the BJP’s internal review, the shift in Dalit votes to the SP-Congress alliance caused massive damage. As per the party’s assessment, around 6% of the BSP’s core Jatav Dalit votes shifted to the INDIA alliance over the “Save the Constitution” campaign and that helped the Opposition coalition trump it in the elections.