Kanshiram was a very dedicated, committed, hard worker and organiser with a missionary zeal. Before dealing with his political career it would be apporopriate to know about his personal background. Kanshiram was born on March 15, 1934 in Khawaspur village of Ropar district of Punjab. His family belonged to an untouchable caste, the lowest category in Hindu caste system. Inspite of being born in lowest caste untouchable Kanshiram did not face humiliations and discriminations his brethren faced. The reason was that like Baba Saheb Ambedkar he too was born to a soldier father. Later Kanshiram converted to Sikhism. Although the father Hari Singh himself was not much educated yet he saw to it that his children got best possible education. Amongst his offspring only Kanshiram passed B.Sc. examination.
By converting himself into a Sikh, Kanshiram saved himself the ordeals normally untouchable was subjected to in Hindu society. He was unaware of the humiliations suffered in daily life when he was getting education in Punjab schools and colleges. Other students used to treat him like another normal person.
In 1956 Kanshiram passed B.Sc. examination from the Goverment College Ropar. In the same year when he got a job through reserve quota for scheduled castes in central government he experienced the caste discrimination. After some period he quit the job and started working for the laboratory of the Defence Research and Development Organisation situated at Kirki Ordnance factory. But it did not last long. He got fed up with the government job. Everywhere there was discriminatory treatment meted out to ones who were employed under ‘Scheduled Caste’ quota. The other employees at all levels kept passing derogatory remarks to hurt and deliberately mistreated quota employees. The humiliations and social discrimination built up anger in him and his blood came to boil. He had understood game of discriminations going on in the country at various levels and in various forms. The increasing corruption and never ending social injustices in India took his total attention.
In 1964 Kanshiram started his historic Bahujan Samaj mission in retaliation against injustices and discriminations. He started his battle from Maharashtra. He visited Delhi and UP to widen the scope of his mission. He felt that those places were better suited for his campaign. It proved true. Later, UP became the centre of Bahujan Samaj Mission and its biggest political asset.
“Seize The Power!” was the battle cry of Kanshiram and he reminded his brethren that they formed 85 percent of the population but the other 15 percent were ruling over them.
On the one hand Kanshiram was challenging the Dalit to fight out of their miserable situation and on the other hand young Mayawati was progressing towards her I.A.S. goal. She had already passed B.Ed. and secured a job as a teacher in a government school to augment her finances.
It was the year of 1977. Then, renowned socialist leader Raj Narain had organised a meet called ‘Banish Casteism’ in the Constitutional Club hall in New Delhi. Mayawati also took part in it. During his speech Raj Narain was time and agin using the word ‘Harijan’ to refer to scheduled castes and tribes. It felt intolerable to Mayawati. She was looking for an opportunity to let off the steam that had built up inside her against the injustices and prejudiced minds.
The leaders expressed their opinions in turns. Mayawati too got her chance to address the people. She was then only 21 years old. At the very start of her speech she condemned Raj Narain for using ‘Harijan’ word for scheduled castes and tribes. The people were surprised at the audacity of a school teacher in castigating a leader of the stature of Raj Narain. The people admired her courageous speech. Mayawati became the talk of the political circles. Infact that imprompt speech proved historic that changed the course of Dalit movement and the history of the country. Mayawati was set on course to become a politcal star of the country.
Kanshiram too learnt about the critical speech of the young school teacher of Dalit class against the political stalwart like Raj Narain. He admired the words sopken by Mayawati. Kanshiram saw immense political possibilities in that school teacher and he needed such quick thinking minds. Till then Mayawati was unaware of Kanshiram and his mission.
The criticism of Raj Narain had earned Mayawati approval of the Dalit society of Delhi and she had become a minor celebrity. So impressed was Kanshiram that he came to meet her at her house. She was then preparing for the I.A.S. examination.
The aim of the visit of Kanshiram was to persuade Prabhudas to allow Mayawati to work for his organisation called ‘BAMSEF’—a body of the Dalit and minority students. The father was not agreeable. He wanted to see his daughter become an I.A.S. officer. Then, Kanshiram went to the room of Mayawati who sat at her table with a pile up of books related to I.A.S. examination. She was earnestly preparing for the test.
Kanshiram reasoned with Mayawati that if she really wanted to serve her Dalit community I.A.S. was not the proper way. A district collector could do little for his/her community as a government functionary. There had been collectors from Dalit community even before her and Dalits got little out of them. Kanshiram told her that he wanted her to join his ‘BAMSEF’ and become part of his movement. He promised he would take her to the position where she would herself be ordering collectors around and I.A.S. officers would be at her back and call.
Mayawati saw wisdom in what Kanshiram was saying and started working for ‘BAMSEF’ contrary to the desires of her father. It did not go down well with Prabhudas. In case of his daughter he acted as if she were his possession who should not act in way that hurt his ego. He cursed Kanshiram who had come to his house and ruined his cherished dream of becoming father of district collector. He even suspected Kanshiram had some selfish motive in misleading his daughter into politics by showing her political pipe dreams and promising greatness. He hated Kanshiram. The relationship between father and the daughter had become strained. What angered Prabhudas was that now Mayawati preferred to seek advice and guidance of Kanshiram instead of him. For the increasing distance between the father and daughter Prabhudas held Kanshiram responsible.
Prabhudas mocked at Mayawati saying if she was dying for political fame she could join party like Congress that has immense resources and a world famous face (Indira Gandhi) instead of ragtag outfit like ‘BAMSEF’. He advised her to forget about the politics and move towards her real goal of becoming an I.A.S. officer. He warned that Kanshiram would prove her ruin. Mayawati did not take the ranting of her father seriously and applied herself more dedicatedly to the party work.
Infact, the hatred her father had grown for Dalit crusader like Kanshiram had made the resolve of Mayawati stronger that her and the Dalit future lay in the movement of Kanshiram. The friction that appeared with very first encounter between Kanshiram and Prabhudas persisted for a long time making life difficult for Mayawati.
Meanwhile, she countinued to teach in the school and study of the law. The salary she got for teaching was not all spent. She saved a part of it every month as a principle. Mayawati could afford her own dowry if she were to marry, her father thought with relief and infact said so. Mayawati did not like it because she had no intention of any marriage in near future and then she was against the very idea of dowry.
Gradually Mayawati dedicated herself totally to party work and politics. She was now the closest confidant of Kanshiram. At the end of 1981 Kanshiram had floated a new political outfit called ‘D.S-4’. (Dalit Shoshit Samaj Sangharsh Samiti). It had the aggressive slogan of Thakur, Bania, Brahmin Chor-Baki Sab Hain DS-4″ which literally meant “Thakurs, Brahmins and Traders are thieves—All the rest are DS-4.
Significant was the fact that in 1982 DS-4 held its first public meeting at Boat Club ground near India Gate as ‘People’s Parliament’. In this regard Kanshiram wrote in ‘Oppressed Indian’ the journal published by BAMSE—”This People’s Parliament will provide opportunity to discuss the burning issues that have been ignored by the national parliament. If this discussion and debate is carried through to all corners of the vast nation the national parliament shall be surely affected. When this People’s Parliament, that enjoys no political power raises issues and inspires debates it will constantly remind the Dalits and the exploited that the national parliament needs to be made true representative of the pepole as soon as possible.”
Kanshiram had impressed upon the need for the alliances between Dalits and the other backward classes and minorities. If the alliance became reality then upper castes could easily be confronted by the down-trodden sections. He felt that the provision of reservation of 22.5 percent in jobs for the scheduled castes/tribes had gained them little benefit. He talked of hot approach and soft approach but felt battle for the social justice be fought hotly as far as possible. But violence had to be avoided. It will all depend in the forms of struggle.
About the helplessness of Dalit, exploited classes he opined—
“The need for a new political party of our own has always been felt for a long time. Many efforts made in the past did not succeed. Lately we have made some experiments in this direction. They were limited political exercise. But we will continue our attempts till we are confident that we can come up with a national party. Only through such party Dalits and exploited society can be delivered from the age of slavery or servitude by relentless campaign.”
The bands of DS-4 spread in the north India to attack the age of servitude. To make the campaign a success various ideas were implemented. In March 1983 a 40 day ‘Cycle March’ was orgainsed. In it 100 party leaders and workers covered a distance of 3,000 kms around Delhi to attract the attention of the people. It made biggest impact on Dalits and backwards of the rural areas who till now had only got dust cover from the caravans of the motorcades of the politcal leaders. Some people criticized this show being organised in the age of motor cars and helicopters. Kanshiram said—
‘All the trains, buses, trucks, cars, tractors and helicopters are in the possession of capitalists. They can use them as they like according to their convenience and pleasure. These facilities are not available to Dalits and members of exploited classes. We can’t run our ground level campaign on these machines. For the down-trodden cycle is the only option and weapon. If one’s legs are in healthy condition one can get anywhere to register one’s presence.”
Mayawati was meanwhile actively working for BAMSEF and preparing for law. examination. On April 14, 1984 she took an important step after a lot of thinking in resigning from the post of the teacher. She joined Bahujan Samaj Party as its primary member. Now Mayawati dedicated most of her free time to the work of Bahujan Samaj Party. It was not liked by her father Prabhudas. The relationship between him and Mayawati had taken such a grave turn that he wanted she could be expelled from the house if she did not break up with Kanshiram.
The harsh words of her father hurt Mayawati. She decided to quit home on her own instead of getting turned out. She shifted to live with her elder brother Siddartha Kumar at the house of Kanshiram situated at Karol Bagh, New Delhi. After a few days she bought a small house for herself and lived there. Now she could work for BAMSEF and Bahujan Samaj Party with full freedom. Kanshiram was so impressed with her dedicated work that he put more and more responsibilities on her. Mayawati shouldered the responsibilities fully.
Lok Sabha elections of 1984 were drawing closer. Kanshiram and Mayawati decided to take part in it. It was the first time that they were in the election fray. Their party BSP (Bahujan Samaj Party) was yet to get recognition as a political party by Election Commission and election symbol could be alloted only after the recognition. Hence, they fielded themselves as independent candidates.
Mayawati opted for Kairana Lok Sabha constituency of Muzaffarnagar district of western UP while Kanshiran stood from Janjgeer constituency. Mayawati who had entered politics after crossing so many hurdles had yet worked no miracle to catch the fancy of the voters. She was a 28 year old political novice. Maywati had to be satisfied with only 44,445 votes. But she had got the better of Janata Party whose candidate got only 9,376 voters.
It was significant that Janata Party had ruled the country only a few years back. It was an encouraging debut for Mayawati.
The very next year she stood as a candidate for the parliamentary by-election of Bijnor enthused by the earlier public support. In the by-election there were heavy weights in Meera Kumar, the daughter of late Babu Jagjivan Ram and Ram Vilas Paswan, the new star of Dalit movement. Although in face of such heavy odds Mayawati lost but the significant factor was that she had bagged 60 thousand plus votes against them. It was a pointer to her future rise.
Under the patronage of Kanshiram Mayawati was gradually maturing up politically and learning ropes of the trade. In 1987 Election Commission gave BSP recognition as a political party. Mayawati decided to try her luck again in a parliamentary by-election. She lost again. But this time she drew consolation from the
fact that she relegated Ram Vilas Paswan to third place and made him lose his security deposit. Paswan never again fought from UP This fact was a clear indicator that BSP was moving towards right direction and its stars were in ascendency.
By now Mayawati had established herself as a good tactician and political battler. She had lost all elections she had fought by now but the defeats were gaining her popularity and she was becoming a well known political entity. As 1989 parliamentary elections were drawing closer the political campaign of Kanshiram and Mayawati was getting fiercer. They did not neglect the minority Muslim community as well. To draw their support several rallies were organised. Under the ‘Make Brotherhood’ programme compaigns were carried out in Muslim localities as well besides Dalit and backward pockets. On December 15, 1987, in a rally organised at Jama Masjid, Delhi, Mayawati said—
“Today Muslims have only 2% jobs in the government departments compared to 35% in the pre- independence period. In absence of job, Muslims have to fall back on trade and shopkeeping to make a living. And that rankles in the minds of upper caste Manuist Hindus. These forces then instigate communal riots in places like Bhiwandi, Allahabad, Aligarh, Jamshedpur etc where Muslims tried to make progress. These riots are the conspiracies of the Manuists to spread bad blood between the Dalit, backwards, Muslims and Sikhs. It prevents their coming together to challenge the rule of the upper caste Hindus.”
In 1989 elections Kanshiram and Mayawati gained remarkable success in winning the confidence of the people. They won three parliamentary seats. They included Bijnor seat of UP where Mayawati won by a margin of 1,83,189 votes.
The results of 1989 elections were very encouraging. The victory gained after so many failures had made Mayawati ecstatic. Her dream of entering the parliament had now come true.
The parliament introduced to Mayawati a different world of elaborate procedures. The long drawn proceedings of both the houses of the parliament amazed the new Dalit MP Her maiden membership of the parliament did not last long. Mayawati lost her parliamentary seat and the political upheaval of north created external pressures on BSP too.
On Bofors issue there was a lot of political debate and heat. Then entire issue took a tragic turn when a LTTE bomber blew herself up to assassinate Rajiv Gandhi during 1991 elections campaign for mid term parliamentary polls. Earlier house was dissolved midway through in prevailing political instability. The assassination created a sympathy wave in favour of Congress party and it emerged the single largest party and formed government with the support of small parties and groups.
In October, 1993, an important alliance was forged between Mulayam Singh Yadav of Samajwadi Party and Kanshiram. The talks were held in the room of Jayant Malhotra, a prominent industrialist. According to Mehta he wanted to end confrontation between the haves and have nots of the country to usher in an era of peace. The electoral alliance led to Mulayam Singh becoming chief minister and BSP getting 11 ministeries out of 27. Mayawati did not join the government. She was given the task of overseeing the smooth functioning of the alliance.
