A Step Towards Dalit–Bahujan Unity? Reading the Alliance Between ‘Jat Party’ and ‘Dalit Party’ in Rajasthan

Abstract

As the Rajasthan elections were hardly a month away, the Rashtriya Loktantrik Party and Azad Samaj Party, popular among Jats and Dalits, respectively, entered into an alliance. What is the meaning of this alliance between the two parties whose major voting communities are in relations of domination and subjugation? The leaders, Chandrashekhar Azad and Hanuman Beniwal, invoked Ambedkar and Chhotu Ram and used the term parivaar for this alliance of jawan, kissan and Dalits. This article argues that for any meaningful alliance to work beyond electoral jugaad, the party holding influence over the dominant community must engage in structural work beyond the confines of symbols. The first step in the same direction is to acknowledge the power relations between the communities.