The 1980s also saw the rise of political organisation of the Dalits. In 1978 the BAMCEF was formed. This organisation was not an ordinary trade union of government employees. It took a strong position in favour of political power to the bahujan. It was out of this that the subsequent Dalit Shoshit Samaj Sangharsh Samiti and later the Bahujan Samaj Party. The BSP began as a small party supported largely by Dalit voters. But in 1989 and the 1991 elections, it achieved a breakthrough in Uttar Pradesh. This was the first time in independent India that a political party supported mainly by Dalit voters had achieved this kind of political success. It derived confidence from the fact that the Bahujans constituted the majority of the population, and were a formidable political force on the strength of their numbers. In many parts of India, Dalit politics and OBC politics have developed independently and often in competition with each other.

In which major states of North India, Dalit voters supported the Bahujan Samaj Party?

Punjab, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh

The BSP began as a small party supported largely by Dalit voters in Punjab, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh. But in 1989 and the 1991 elections, it achieved a breakthrough in Uttar Pradesh. This was the first time in independent India that a political party supported mainly by Dalit voters had achieved this kind of political success.