Lucknow: A day after clashes between two groups of the Dalit community erupted in Lakhimpur over the installation of a statue of BR Ambedkar on his birth anniversary, the BJP went into overdrive to assess the situation at the grassroots.The violence broke out after one group of the Dalit community objected to the installation of the statue, which eventually was damaged. Soon, an angry crowd started pelting the police with stones.Several police vehicles were vandalised, and at least one vehicle was overturned during the unrest.On Wednesday, even as the BJP began an on-ground assessment of the incident, the development brought back memories of the 2021 violence that erupted in the district after a car belonging to Ashish Mishra, son of then Union minister Ajay Mishra Teni, ran over farmers who were protesting against the Centre’s three farm laws in Tikunia.This time, the BJP is on alert after the intra-caste feud that threatened to dent the saffron outfit’s Dalit mobilisation bid in the run-up to the state polls due early next year.Unverified reports claimed the involvement of supporters of Chandrashekhar Azad’s Bhim Army in the violence.Sources said that the incident raised concerns for the BJP, which has been making a bid to deepen its social coalition while tightening its grip on Dalits, a key electoral group comprising 21% of the total voter base in Uttar Pradesh.Sources said that the incident occurred in the Bankeganj area of the Palia Assembly seat represented by BJP MLA Romi Sahani. A senior BJP functionary said that the party sought detailed inputs from the district unit vis-a-vis the fallout of the incidents on the party’s drive to mobilise the Dalits.According to sources, the district unit has informed the state leadership that the unrest was part of a conspiracy hatched by a local leader to stoke Dalit politics in the run-up to the panchayat and the 2027 Assembly elections. Bankeganj is said to have a sizeable population of Dalit voters.BJP’s Lakhimpur unit president Arvind Gupta said that the unit was in the process of collecting details after meeting the district administration and police.“We are keeping close tabs on the situation, which is under control. The authorities are taking action accordingly,” he said.The timing of the incident was sensitive. The unrest came immediately after the BJP’s large-scale celebratory events on Ambedkar Jayanti and amid efforts to strengthen Scheduled Caste support through symbolic outreach, memorial upgrades and village-level engagement.This drew a sharp contrast between Dalit symbolism and the ground fault lines that the BJP may have to reckon with ahead of future poll battles.
