Lok Sabha polls 2014- Growth plank to caste politics: Narendra Modi’s UP strategy?

NEW DELHI: BJP's PM candidate Narendra Modi opening the caste card in the last two phases of elections in UP may have come as a surprise to many who saw his campaign to be based on the 'development' plank but if government data on caste violence is anything to go by, the party's move seems a calculated one.

While UP is generally regarded as a deeply casteist society, data on caste violence shows it is also the state with maximum cases of violence against dalits, topping the ignominious chart year after year. But what adds importance to Modi's caste spin of Priyanka Gandhi's statement on 'neech rajneeti' is the fact that over one-third of caste violence in the state takes place in the 33 districts which were scheduled for polls in the last two phases.

Data compiled by the National Crime Records Bureau for 2012 shows that of the 33,655 cases of caste violence against dalits across the country, 6,202 took place in UP.

Of these, 2,247 (making up 36.23%) occurred in the 15 districts that went to polls on May 7 and the 18 others that will vote on May 12.

Districts such as Bahraich, Gorakhpur, Allahabad, Jaunpur, Faizabad, Gonda, Balia, Amethi and Varanasi (from where Modi himself is contesting) top the list of the 33 districts in caste violence.

Days before the May 7 polls, Modi had attacked Priyanka for calling his politics "low-level" and spun it to suggest that she was referring to his caste. The move had surprised political observers as Modi had until then maintained the tone and tenor of growth and development in his address to the public.

However, caste is tough to keep away from UP's political culture, such is the reality of its society. Even in 2011, the state witnessed maximum number of caste violence cases at 7,702, leaving its closest rival Rajasthan (5,182) behind by over 1,500 cases.

As some say Modi's caste remarks were not merely meant for UP but also northern and western Bihar, data shows the state had 4,821 cases in 2012. It falls behind Rajasthan, which registered 5,559 such cases in 2012.