Droupadi Murmu, a Santali Tribal woman leader, getting elected as the 15th President of India is a milestone in the history of post-Mandal struggle, particularly for Adivasi emancipation from classical oppression. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) will gain enormous mileage with her as president. Without the Mandal struggle, the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) and the BJP, known as the Brahmin-Bania network, would not have chosen her as the presidential candidate. The Congress and the Left, frozen in Brahmanism as they are, have given the RSS-BJP a historical advantage.
About The Author
Kancha Ilaiah Shepherd
Kancha Ilaiah Shepherd is a political theorist, author and activist. He has been a professor of Political Science at Osmania University, Hyderabad and director of the Centre for the Study of Social Exclusion and Inclusive Policy at Maulana Azad National Urdu University, Hyderabad. He is the author of ‘Why I Am Not a Hindu’, ‘Buffalo Nationalism’ and ‘Post-Hindu India’
