Lucknow, Jul 10: Bahujan Samaj Party president Mayawati on Friday appealed to Dalits and other socially disadvantaged groups to confront injustice through constitutional and democratic means rather than resorting to street confrontations, saying the most effective route to protecting their rights lies in legal action and political empowerment through the vote.
Her remarks came against the backdrop of recent protests in parts of Uttar Pradesh, including Meerut, Saharanpur, Hardoi and Prayagraj, where demonstrations linked to law-and-order issues and crimes against Dalits have drawn public attention. In Meerut, tension escalated after protests over the killing of a Dalit woman turned violent, with agitating groups clashing with officials and trying to enter the district magistrate’s office. The unrest reportedly left several police personnel injured and raised fresh concerns over the direction of such protests.
Speaking at a press interaction in Lucknow, the former Uttar Pradesh chief minister said the struggle of Dalits and other deprived communities must remain rooted in the constitutional framework laid down by Dr B R Ambedkar. She said Ambedkar had secured crucial legal, constitutional and democratic protections for historically oppressed communities despite resistance from entrenched caste interests, and had envisioned a path in which these sections could secure justice and dignity by using the tools provided by the Constitution.
Mayawati said Ambedkar had not only fought to ensure safeguards for the Scheduled Castes and other marginalised groups, but had also underlined the importance of acquiring political power through democratic participation. According to her, he believed that control over governance through the strength of the vote was the “master key” that could help the oppressed classes defend their rights and shape policies in their favour.
Linking Ambedkar’s political vision to the formation of the Bahujan Samaj Party, Mayawati said BSP founder Kanshi Ram had built the party with the objective of transforming social assertion into political authority. She suggested that the party’s central mission had always been to unite the deprived sections and help them convert their numbers into organised electoral power rather than allowing their anger to be channelled into confrontational protests that yield little long-term gain.
The BSP chief said Ambedkar had consistently advised that the battle against caste discrimination, exploitation and injustice should be fought through lawful means. If justice was not delivered at one level of the judiciary, she said, people should continue their legal fight in higher courts, including the Supreme Court, instead of being drawn into violence or disorder.
Referring to recent incidents in districts such as Meerut, Saharanpur, Hardoi and Prayagraj, and to similar developments in other parts of the country, Mayawati said marginalised communities should avoid taking to the streets in a manner that leads to confrontation with the administration. She argued that public anger over atrocities and injustice is understandable, but warned that emotional mobilisation without a clear legal and political strategy often ends up harming the same communities it claims to defend.
Without naming any specific organisation, she accused certain political groups and social outfits of exploiting the pain and frustration of oppressed communities for narrow political gains. According to Mayawati, such groups provoke people into aggressive protests, road blockades and clashes with authorities, only to later position themselves as defenders of the victims once violence breaks out. She said this pattern neither secures justice for those affected nor creates meaningful change, but instead deepens the difficulties faced by already vulnerable communities.
Her criticism appeared aimed at what she described as “politically motivated agitation”, in which outrage over crimes against Dalits is converted into street action that spirals into unrest. In her view, such episodes weaken the moral and political strength of the movement for justice by shifting attention away from the victim and towards the law-and-order fallout.
Mayawati said the real answer to the problems faced by Dalits and other deprived sections lies in unity, discipline and adherence to the peaceful path shown by Ambedkar. She stressed that electoral strength remains the most powerful instrument available to historically oppressed communities, because it allows them not only to influence policy but also to place their own representatives in positions of authority.
She reiterated that the BSP has always sought to organise Dalits, backward sections and other weaker groups around this principle of democratic empowerment. Rather than reacting impulsively to provocation or injustice, she said, these communities should focus on building long-term political strength and ensuring that their collective vote translates into government power.
The BSP leader also issued a warning in the context of upcoming elections, saying Dalits and other marginalised groups should remain especially cautious as the state moves towards future Assembly, Lok Sabha and local body contests. According to her, the election season often sees an increase in attempts by rival organisations and parties to manipulate emotions, exploit social tensions and use incidents involving vulnerable communities as tools for mobilisation.
Mayawati suggested that in the current political climate, members of these communities must be alert to efforts aimed at dividing them or drawing them into confrontational politics that benefits others more than it benefits the victims. She said people should judge political actors not by emotional speeches after incidents of violence, but by whether they are committed to securing justice through policy, representation and institutional action.
In invoking Ambedkar repeatedly, Mayawati sought to frame her message not merely as a political appeal but as a return to the foundational strategy of Dalit assertion within constitutional democracy. She argued that Ambedkar’s project was not only about legal safeguards but about teaching oppressed communities how to use the democratic system to transform their social condition. For her, that means using courts when rights are violated and using elections to ensure that those rights are defended by governments responsive to their concerns.
She also referred to historical lessons such as the Poona Pact and the teachings of Gautam Buddha, saying the present circumstances call for reflection on how oppressed communities can protect their interests through wisdom, unity and strategic action rather than anger alone. Though her remarks did not go into historical detail, the reference underscored her attempt to place current protests within a longer political and ideological tradition of Dalit struggle.
The timing of the statement is significant for Uttar Pradesh politics. The state remains central to the BSP’s social base, and Mayawati’s comments suggest a bid to reclaim political ground among Dalits by presenting the party as the authentic custodian of Ambedkarite politics. At a moment when crimes against Dalits, law-and-order failures and caste tensions continue to influence public discourse, her intervention appears designed both as a message to her support base and as a critique of rival forces competing for the same social constituency.
Her appeal also reflects the dilemma often faced by Dalit politics in contemporary India: how to respond to repeated incidents of violence and discrimination without allowing legitimate anger to be diverted into symbolic protest alone. By emphasising the courtroom and the ballot box over the street, Mayawati has chosen to foreground institution-based struggle and political consolidation as the route she believes offers the greatest protection to vulnerable communities.
Whether that message resonates widely will depend in part on how effectively the legal system responds to atrocities and whether political representation is seen to produce real change on the ground. For many Dalit families confronting violence, discrimination or official apathy, the demand for immediate public protest often arises from frustration with delayed justice. Mayawati’s argument is that while anger may be justified, the path to durable gains lies in using constitutional rights, judicial remedies and electoral strength in a disciplined manner.
For the BSP, the intervention also serves to sharpen its ideological positioning ahead of future electoral battles. By drawing a contrast between Ambedkarite constitutional politics and what she portrayed as opportunistic street mobilisation, Mayawati is seeking to remind voters of the party’s original promise: that the empowerment of the Bahujan rests not on sporadic agitation, but on organised social unity and the capture of political power through democratic means.
As protests over caste violence and law and order issues continue to shape local politics in parts of Uttar Pradesh, Mayawati’s remarks have added a clear political line to the debate. Her message to Dalits and other deprived communities was unambiguous: seek justice through the Constitution, fight through the courts, stay united at the ballot box, and do not allow grief and anger to be used by those pursuing short-term political advantage.