Delhi Assembly polls 2025: BJP & Congress field Dalit candidates from general category seats

The BJP, which has been moving overtime to woo Dalits pursuing its underwhelming show successful the Lok Sabha polls, has fielded 2 Dalit candidates from non-reserved seats — some Muslim-majority constituencies and located successful the bosom of Old Delhi — connected the ground of their “performance and popularity”.

The Congress, which has made “saving the Constitution” its cardinal electoral communicative successful successive polls, has fielded 1 Dalit campaigner from a non-SC seat.

The AAP is the lone cardinal enactment that has fielded Dalit candidates from lone reserved seats. Notably, a fewer weeks ago, the enactment released an AI-generated video of Ambedkar blessing AAP nationalist convenor and erstwhile CM Arvind Kejriwal.

Delhi has 12 seats reserved for the SC community. But portion the BJP has fielded 14 Dalit candidates, the Congress has fielded 13. Generally, astir large parties tract Dalit candidates lone from reserved constituencies.

The Dalit candidates fixed summons by the BJP from wide seats are Deepti Indora from Matia Mahal and Kamal Bagri from Ballimaran. From the Congress, Aruna Kumari is contesting from Narela, a non-reserved seat.

Indora was fileded by BJP arsenic a probable successful the 2022 MCD elections from the Delhi Gate ward, which falls nether the Matia Mahal constituency but had mislaid to AAP’s Kiran Bala by a small implicit 1700 votes. Bagri, connected the different hand, is simply a sitting councillor from Ram Nagar ward — portion of Ballimaran — which helium had won with a borderline of much than 2,300 votes.

The improvement underlines BJP’s designation of its inability to support its Dalit enactment intact successful the Lok Sabha polls contempt having worked hard implicit the years to due Ambedkar.

The SP-Congress harvester had stunned the BJP successful Lok Sabha polls, winning 43 seats successful Uttar Pradesh against the NDA’s 36. Compared to the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, BJP had mislaid 30 seats it had successful the state. This nonaccomplishment led to the BJP falling abbreviated of the bulk successful the Lok Sabha.

Speaking to The Indian Express, leaders crossed enactment lines sought to property their respective summons distribution-related decisions connected reserved constituencies to “dynamic changes” successful the demographic illustration of the metropolis and the popularity of the candidates that they had chosen to tract irrespective of whether oregon not they belonged to the SC category.

“Both Deeptiji and Kamalji are fashionable successful the constituencies from wherever they person been fielded owing to their acquisition arsenic councillors and delivering connected section improvement projects. Their effectiveness arsenic officials elected to a nationalist bureau is much important than their caste,” a elder BJP person said.

The AAP’s sole criteria, according to an insider, was the aforesaid – the popularity of the candidate. “Irrespective of which enactment they belonged to earlier oregon their caste, we person fixed tickets to deserving candidates based connected winnability,” the insider said.

The Congress said its determination was besides guided by “experience and popularity implicit everything else”. “Arunaji is simply a beardown campaigner connected the spot (Narela). She has represented it arsenic a councillor immoderate years agone and is seen arsenic idiosyncratic who tin present development,” a elder Congress person said.

One of the cardinal reasons for this was deft societal engineering by the SP. It fielded 2 Dalit candidates from wide seats successful Meerut and Ayodhya successful the Lok Sabha polls. It adjacent ended up winning the Ayodhya spot overmuch to the embarrassment of the BJP, which had gone into polls riding connected the euphoria implicit inauguration of Ram Temple successful January that year.

In the backdrop of the communicative that the NDA would alteration the Constitution if it crossed the 400-mark and the dwindling popularity of Mayawati-led BSP, this determination sent a connection to Dalits that the SP was acceptable to springiness representational abstraction to Dalits beyond the law mandate. Dalits are said to person voted for the SP successful important measure, successful turn, hurting the BJP.

The nationalist governmental sermon since has revolved astir the Constitution with the Congress and the BJP sparring implicit who has done much harm to it.

The BJP-Congress determination besides comes astatine a clip erstwhile Dalit parties specified arsenic the BSP and the Chandrashekhar-led ASP (KR) are putting successful sizeable governmental vigor successful Delhi polls. While the BSP is contesting connected each seats, ASP (KR) has declared candidates for 16 seats that autumn connected the UP-Delhi border. ASP (KR) has adjacent promised that if it emerges arsenic a kingmaker, it volition guarantee Constitution is taught successful each Delhi schools.