Scattered Untouchable minorities could never win elections without a separate electorate

Evidence

The most unique aspect of Ambedkar’s memorandum was his proposal for a system of positive discrimination within the electoral system. Ambedkar did not believe that universal adult franchise alone could secure equal rights for Untouchables. Since the Untouchable population was scattered across the country in little settlements on the outskirts of Hindu villages, Ambedkar realised that within the geographical demarcation of a political constituency, they would always be a minority and would never be in a position to elect a candidate of their own choice. He suggested that Untouchables, who had been despised and devalued for so many centuries, be given a separate electorate so that they could, without interference from the Hindu orthodoxy, develop into a political constituency with a leadership of its own. In addition to this, and in order that they retain their connection with mainstream politics, he suggested that they be given the right to vote for general candidates too. Both the separate electorate and the double vote were to last for a period of only ten years. — Ambedkar, B R, Annihilation of Caste_ The Annotated…, 378

Categorization

• XREF: Connects to the reader’s interest in caste annihilation implementation — the separate-electorate mechanism Ambedkar devised for political empowerment is a concrete institutional design, parallel to Milgrom’s work on institutions emerging to solve information/scaling problems. — connects to: Black voters helped pass an annexation that diluted their own electoral strength — Kevin M. Kruse, White Flight: Atlanta and the Making of…, 96