Dalit-led political parties advanced dignity despite structural limits on democracy

Evidence

A lot has changed. India has had a Dalit President and even a Dalit Chief Justice. The rise of political parties dominated by Dalits and other subordinated castes is a remarkable, and in some ways a revolutionary, development. Even if the form it has taken is that a small but visible minority—the leadership—lives out the dreams of the vast majority, given our history, the aggressive assertion of Dalit pride in the political arena can only be a good thing. The complaints about corruption and callousness brought against parties like the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) apply to the older political parties on an even larger scale, but charges levelled against the BSP take on a shriller, more insulting tone because its leader is someone like Mayawati—a Dalit, a single woman, and unapologetic about being both. Whatever the BSP’s failings may be, its contribution towards building Dalit dignity is an immense political task that ought never to be minimised. The worry is that even as subordinated castes are becoming a force to reckon with in parliamentary democracy, democracy itself is being undermined in serious and structural ways. — Ambedkar, B R, Annihilation of Caste_ The Annotated…, 54

Categorization

• XREF: The irony that caste groups gain parliamentary power just as democracy erodes connects to the reader’s classically-analyzed theme of institutions being hollowed out even as representation widens. — connects to: Communist parties lost Dalit support by treating caste as secondary to class; Substantive democracy required deliberately raising the political value of devalued Untouchables; The Poona Pact deliberately delayed Dalit political awakening.
• corroborated: 2 independent passages support this claim — Ambedkar, B R, Annihilation of Caste_ The Annotated…, 54

Broader Connections

• Substantive democracy required deliberately raising the political value of devalued Untouchables #corroborates (0.60)
• Communist parties lost Dalit support by treating caste as secondary to class #complicates (0.50)
• The Poona Pact deliberately delayed Dalit political awakening. #complicates (0.40)