It is believed that Dalit politics is synonymous with social concerns. The same is said to be true of the politics rooted in Marxist ideology. What is tragic, however, is that Dalit politics, which rode to power on social concerns, abandoned these concerns, leading to its downfall.
The history of Dalit politics is not very old. But it is not in its infancy either and has seen many ups and downs. From Dr Ambedkar to Kanshi Ram and Mayawati, it has weathered many storms. It is also a bitter truth that barring Dr Ambedkar, all the other Dalit leaders have done only politics in the name of Dalits. They have nothing for their people, their objective being to somehow secure a place for themselves in non-Dalit politics.
