Only recently two poor Dalit children were beaten to death in Madhya Pradesh for no good reason at all. I am yet to hear any announcement by the government for compensating the family. So as things stand Dalits have to fight for their rights, elections or no elections, Buddha or no Buddha.”

Bharti has given a call for a protest in Delhi over the gruesome killing of the two children. It indicates the Dalits’ ire against the established parties. Among the better-informed Dalits, the PM’s invocation of Buddha rings hollow and this is the message that Dalit activists as per Bharti are going to send through the run-up to the polls both in Maharashtra as well as Haryana.

Another issue that is agitating the Dalits is the arrest of over 90 Dalit youth in Delhi during the protests that were held following the demolition of Sant Ravidas Temple at Tughlaqabad in South Delhi. The BJP, as well as other parties, are reportedly in talks with the leaders of the Ravidas Temple restoration committee about the possibility of rebuilding the temple as also the incarceration of the youth, though there have been no results so far.

Thus, it is in this backdrop that the warring political parties are virtually vying each other to catch the attention of Dalits and find feet among Dalit voters. And the PM’s hopping on to Buddha at the UN too may also not be far removed from the race for votes in Assembly polls. It is more so since new Vidhan Sabhas are also scheduled to be elected in Jharkhand and Delhi in near future.