Will Tikait’s ‘second coming’ be a damp squib?

Arun Chaubey
The Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU) leader Mahendra Singh Tikait, who once cultivated an iconic image among the farmers of western Uttar Pradesh, was in oblivion, but his casteist remarks against Chief Minister Mayawati appear to have resurrected him politically.

And with him, has risen the Jat-Jatav feud witnessed in the region during 90s. The moot point arises as to how the Tikait’s ‘Second Coming’ would benefit the political opponents of Mayawati or whether the latter’s successful handling of the situation would simply leave them flabbergast.The stage in the beginning appeared all set for a bloody showdown between police and Tikait’s supporters, but perhaps for the first time in the western UP, the Jat pride has been smothered, as their iconic leadership looked for a compromise. The determined police force managed to cow down Tikait, who was implicated under the SC/ST Atrocities (Prevention) Act. Mayawati, whose social engineering through ‘Sarvajan’ plank has already changed the political course of the UP’s politics, humbled Tikait and made it clear that she would not compromise when it comes to Dalit ‘Asmita’ (self-respect). Others have also got a clear message that Behenji would never spare an opportunity to give a befitting reply to the casteist feudal mindset.
The development, however, has stirred the politics in the region of ‘Harit Pradesh’ and the heat would be felt in the upcoming general elections. Her political rivals tried hard to fish in troubled waters to reap the political dividends from the episode. And the Samajwadi Party Chief Mulayam Singh Yadav was the first to condemn the police firing in Sisauli to strike a sympathetic chord with the Jats.
The Congress maintained a tactical silence and evaded the issue, as it aspires to make a dent in the Jat vote bank, which along with the Muslims would certainly give an edge to its political ambition. But the party also confronted the dilemma that by not taking a stand, its adversaries would tar it with anti-Dalit brush, which may cost it dearly in the coming round of assembly polls in the states of Delhi, J&K, Madhya Pradesh and Karnataka, that have a fairly large Dalit population.
But Chaudhary’s meek submission at least let Congress heave a sigh of relief, as the party has of late re-energised itself under the youthful leadership of Rahul Gandhi, who on the forefront of the party’s campaign trail, is trying hard to woo the youth electorate as well as the farmers. He is not sparing any opportunity to showcase Rs 60,000 crore loan-waiver for the farmers, and the implementation of NREGA across the nation. Although Rahul’s charismatic youth image failed to create an impact in the assembly poll 2007, the party is hoping an effective turnaround in coming general elections, which is coinciding at the right time to exploit the situation.
The Congress had entered into an alliance with Tikait’s BKU in the assembly polls 2007 to make a dent into RLD votes, but the experiment failed. And reports are that the political wing of BKU, the Bahujan Kisan Dal (BKD), is again trying to strike a deal with the Congress, and has already declared its candidates for the 14 Parliamentary seats. How far the Congress and the BKD will now be able to reap the benefit in the new scenario is interesting to watch. The Tikait’s political resurrection is likely to make an impact along with Congress’ pro-farmer propaganda.
On the other hand, the inflated ego of Jats has got a blow, and it would deepen the wedge between the Jats and the Jatavs. There is a saying in the region that "The difference between the Jats and Jatavs is just an extra A and V", but for centuries, the two most populous communities of Brijbhoomi in south-western UP have confronted each other. In the British period, the Jats owed allegiance to the Bharatpur Estate in Rajasthan. Bharatpur rulers were one of the most defiant principalities for the British, as the Jats fought the British tooth and nail for years. They were close to Delhi, but they never lost their autonomy, and their political assertion is perhaps inspired by their past tradition. Besides, the Jats have been landholders, therefore the natural exploiters and the Jatavs, being the dominant Dalit community, have been the exploited. The only time they voted together was in 1977, when Babu Jagjivan Ram and Chowdhary Charan Singh came under the umbrella of the Janata Party.
In the post-Chowdhary Charan Singh era, Tikait emerged as the most powerful leader of farmers in the western UP. Born in 1935, at village Sisauli in Muzaffarnagar district, Mahendra Singh Tikait is a Jat of Gahlot gotra, and is the Choudhary of Balyan Khap. It is said that Tikait was a "Title" conferred to Head of Baliyan Khap by the famous King of Thanesar, Harshavardhana, in the 7th century. Since then the Choudharies of Balyan Khap are using this title. He inherited the title of the Khap Baliyan at the age of eight when his father Chaudhary Chauhal Singh died in 1943. He enjoys administrative, educative and executive powers over the Khap villages.Tikait formed the Bhartiya Kisan Union, a non-political organization, to protect the interests of all the farmers of India on October 17, 1986, and has led a number of mass movements against the state and Centre to support the rights of the farmers. He was arrested and sent to jail many times, yet he remained confined to western UP and failed to emerge at the national level to become the farmers’ undisputed leader. Through the passage of time, his influence in Jat land has also lost its sheen, and nepotism is reported to have been one of the reasons.
His myopic vision has already damaged his image as well as the movement, and if it is expected that his political resurrection would make a difference in the next general elections, then his meek submission has perfectly indicated as to how far he would be effective in changing the course of western UP’s politics.