Once he held sway over the destiny of millions of kisans in western Uttar Pradesh; today he is a shadow of his former self, someone who cannot even determine his own fate. Mahendra Singh Tikait shot into fame in the late 80s by demonstrating incredible powers of mass mobilisation through non-violent means. Not only was he capable of bringing life to a complete halt in the fertile swathe of western Uttar Pradesh from Baghpat to Saharanpur, but he once led a peasant army of nearly three lakh to Delhi. They squatted on the India Gate vista for nearly a fortnight, during which several died from heatstroke, while the verdant verges of Rajpath were converted into a gigantic, stinking public toilet. The mammoth crowd successfully resisted police efforts at dispersal and it was with the greatest difficulty that the Union Government finally persuaded the defiant, hookah-smoking Jat leader to lift the siege of Delhi. In fact, it was only after this dharna that the administration banned rallies at Boat Club, yesteryears' most favoured venue for demonstrations by sundry interest groups and political parties.

But even in the 90s, Tikait was an anachronism although he consciously projected himself in a Gandhian mould. He stubbornly resisted the temptation to turn violent, demanded maximum physical endurance and suffering from his supporters including long spells in prison, trudged huge distances on foot clad in a dhoti and crumpled khadi kurta with a walking stick as his only companion, and withdrew agitations just when it seemed to be getting out of control. No orator, Tikait nevertheless cast a mesmerising spell on his followers through sheer ordinariness. But his method of mass mobilisation hinged solely on primordial loyalties generated through the rigid mechanism of caste. He was the leader of a Jat khap (sub-caste), but managed to unite other khaps by espousing a common set of demands.

Whereas Chaudhary Charan Singh, west UP's tallest kisan leader, mobilised on political and electoral lines leading his followers in and out of various parties till he eventually became Prime Minister (albeit for just a few months), Tikait rallied support by seeking to alter the progressively adverse terms of trade against agriculture. Faced with the threat of dwindling farm productivity in an era of rising input costs, peasant-proprietors of western Uttar Pradesh, mostly Jats with medium-sized landholdings, found in Tikait a messiah who promised to deliver them from the tyranny of the insensitive babu and extortionist bania. In understanding the phenomenon of Tikait, it is, therefore, essential to remember that the maverick, tantrum-throwing wannabe Mahatma could never go beyond a caste-tinted, geographically limited vision.

Post-liberalisation, Tikait's inherent anachronism has become even more pronounced. Progressively, he has lost his base, since the generation which provided him the backbone has been marginalised by age and economic growth. He lorded over western Uttar Pradesh at a time when the region's substantial Dalit population did not have the temerity to rise against the dominant and aggressive Jats. Till the mid-90s, most Dalits in UP's Jat heartland had seen polling booths only from a distance and never set eyes on a ballot paper although votes were routinely cast in their name.

The rise of the BJP in the wake of the Ram Janmabhoomi Movement did much to break down social barriers. Although the ostensibly egalitarian Arya Samaj always had a strong influence in this region, it was the BJP that mobilised most effectively on a pan-Hindu platform, marginalising the region's established Muslim political leadership while persuading Jats to allow Dalits to exercise their right to vote in the larger Hindu cause. The empowered Dalit has not looked back since. As the BJP's influence waned, Ajit Singh's political promiscuity resulted in the fracturing of Charan Singh's "rainbow coalition" of kisan castes and Tikait got steadily pushed into a few pockets, it was Mayawati's turn to build a formidable support base on the back of Dalit commitment, Brahmin flirtation and Muslim exploration of an alternative electoral option. The UP Chief Minister who belongs to western Uttar Pradesh herself and is fully cognisant of the limits of Jat dominance, is probably the region's most powerful political leader today. She has successfully eclipsed Ajit Singh, Tikait and even the BJP in an area that is traditionally hostile to the Congress.

But even Mayawati could not have hoped for the kind of political windfall that Tikait, backed by short-sighted leaders of established political parties gave her last week. Till even a decade ago, Tikait could have got away referring to her in the constitutionally-proscribed but commonly used derogatory word slighting her caste. His anachronistic mindset needs no further proof than the fact that he callously uttered this at a public meeting. Tikait remains frozen in a time warp, economic and political change since his heyday having rendered him irrelevant.

For Mayawati, his ill-considered remark has come as godsend because it helps reinforce her image as a tough, uncompromising leader championing Dalit self-respect. Despatching 6,000 policemen to surround Tikait's den in Sisauli and indicating that if necessary, commandos would be para-dropped to arrest him, she sent just the signal needed to boost Dalit assertiveness. By coming to his defence and slamming her decision to slap the draconian Anti-SC Act on him, other parties, particularly the Congress, have played straight into her hands. It can be nobody's case that Tikait did the right thing in using a disgraced term against her. Not only is this politically incorrect, but every right-thinking Indian must condemn such displays of casteist arrogance.

At a time when Mayawati has cobbled together a social alliance spanning Brahmins and Dalits, with a smattering of Muslims in tow, political parties should realise that old mindsets have transformed and even upper castes are willing to accept Dalit leadership if that serves their interest. Those who still regard Dalits as physically and politically untouchable have become untouchable themselves.

This incident has also helped Mayawati silence murmurs from within the Dalit community about Brahmins grabbing the lion's share of UP's cake. If other political parties had an appropriate feel of the pulse they would have outdone Mayawati in condemning Tikait, and pointed to the sweetheart deal that was worked out allowing him to surrender rather than get arrested. Nevertheless, Mayawati holds all the cards at the moment and her credibility as a no-nonsense leader has soared. Given Tikait's dwindling base, it is unlikely that his humiliation will result in any significant non-Dalit consolidation. If social tensions rise in western UP as a fallout of the Sisauli episode, it is the Jats who risk isolation. Mayawati recognised some time back that not even 100 per cent Dalit consolidation under her leadership would get the BSP more than 25 per cent of UP's seats. But a shrewd caste alliance can take her past the 50 per cent mark, which happened in the last Assembly poll. In the age of coalitions, no caste can afford to plough a lonely furrow.

Courtesy: www.dailypioneer.com, April 06, 2008