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www.GOALias.blogspot.comRecent Developments in Indian Politics 183Political falloutsThe 1980s also saw the rise of political organisation of theDalits. In 1978 the Backward and Minority Classes EmployeesFederation (BAMCEF) was formed. This organisation was not anordinary trade union of government employees. It took a strongOBC and minorities. It was out of this that the subsequent DalitShoshit Samaj Sangharsh Samiti and later the Bahujan SamajParty (BSP) emerged under the leadership of Kanshi Ram. TheBSP began as a small party supported largely by Dalit voters inPunjab, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh. But in 1989 and the 1991elections, it achieved a breakthrough in Uttar Pradesh. This wasthe first time in independent India that a political party supportedmainly by Dalit voters had achieved this kind of political success.In fact, the BSP, under Kanshi Ram’s leadership was envisagedas an organisation based on pragmatic politics. It derivedconfidence from the fact that the Bahujans (SC, ST, OBC andreligious minorities) constituted the majority of the population,and were a formidable political force on the strength of theirnumbers. Since then the BSP has emerged as a major politicalplayer in the State and has been in government on more than oneoccasion. Its strongest support still comes from Dalit voters, butit has expanded its support now to various other social groups. Inmany parts of India, Dalit politics and OBC politics have developedindependently and often in competition with each other.Willthis benefitleaders of all thebackward and Dalitcommunities? Or will thegains be monopolised by somepowerful castes and familieswithin these groups?The real pointis not the leaders butthe people! Will this leadto better policies and effectiveimplementation for the reallydeprived people? Or will it remainjust a political game?Kanshi Ram(1934-2006):Proponentof Bahujanempowerment andfounder of BahujanSamaj Party (BSP);left his centralgovernment job forsocial and politicalwork; founder ofBAMCEF, DS-4and finally theBSP in 1984;astute politicalstrategist, heregarded politicalpower as masterkey to attainingsocial equality;credited with Dalitresurgence in northIndian States.