Lok Sabha Elections 2024: In Lalganj, An English Educator Takes Up Electoral Gauntlet as Champion of Ambedkarite Ideals

Lalganj- In Eastern Uttar Pradesh, Lalganj, the Loksabha seat, which has been in the past represented by veteran Dalit leader Ram Dhan, goes to the polls on May 25.

Dr. Indu Chowdhary, a professor at the Department of English at Benaras Hindu University, faces a tough time here, being a first time candidate, seeking people's support and vote. Indu was chosen as the candidate by the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) for the Lalganj Seat in Azamgarh.

The 44-year old teacher has been working on the ground to spread awareness about the Bahujan Mission among the masses.

Professor Chowdhary is married to Mahendra Pratap Singh, a trained engineer who is also an RTI (Right to Information) activist. The couple is devoted to the Social Movement.

Chowdhary faces a tough battle as she is pitted against Neelam Sonkar of the Bhartiya Janta Party (BJP) and Daroga Prasad Saroj of the Samajwadi Party.

While the Samajwadi Party won all the five assembly segments in the parliamentary constituency in the 2022 Assembly elections, the parliamentary seat is currently represented by Sangeeta Azad of the BSP as the party won the seat in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections in alliance with the Samajwadi Party.

The Bhartiya Janta Party draws confidence from the sizable turnout at Prime Minister Narendra Modi's rally in Lalganj. However, the BSP shares a similar sense of assurance, with party supremo Mayawati's rally also witnessing significant attendance. Moreover, the campaign led by Indu Chowdhary is garnering considerable support, adding to the BSP's optimism.

The Mooknayak spoke to Professor Chowdhary ahead of the election in her constituency on May 25 to talk about the Bahujan Mission and the Ambedkarite Movement.

Indu Chowdhary, whose family has roots in Ambedkarnagar district of Uttar Pradesh, was born and brought up in Lucknow. She went to Lucknow University and joined Benaras Hindu University as an assistant professor in 2007.

Speaking about her encounters with caste discrimination, she says, “In India, it is said that if you do not carry anything, you carry your caste, so before I went to BHU, my caste had reached the campus.” Referring to the incident where her baggage was thrown out of the teachers’ hostel in BHU, she says, “So the very first experience that I got at BHU was related to my caste, and that forced me to face the worst caste discrimination within one year of my joining, and I had to stay one whole night on the road on the BHU campus because of my caste.

The English Professor is not content with receiving a salary for her job and is an epitome of “payback to society” as her spare time is spent spreading the Ambedkarite movement among the masses.

She believes that the root cause of caste discrimination is not merely an institute, but the mentality that is governing the common human being. “I go among the people to sensitize them so that in case they are humiliated, they can respond legally and stand up against caste-based discrimination. I also appeal to them to pay back to society; they should spend at least one day so that they feel empowered.”

Revealing her political foray, the English professor says that after the incident in BHU, she started the ground movement in Azamgarh, and at that time she had no idea that she would one day contest from the region.

“Initially, 20-25 people joined me in the meeting, and now so many people are coming, not only to hear me but also to empower themselves.” Emphasizing her commitment to the ideology of the Bahujan Movement, she says that her focus is on the life and mission of Manyawar Kanshiram and Babasaheb Ambedkar.

“Our primary target is to rejuvenate the Bahujan Mission led by Mahatma Jyotiba Rao Phule, Baba Saheb, Periyar Lalai Singh Yadav.” Talking about the surge of Brahminism among the Dalits, she says that Brahminism was a problem and with the enactment of the constitution, things have changed, although caste conflict still remains a problem.

She asserts that the movement led by Manyawar Kanshiram has empowered the people to the extent that they stand up against atrocities, reply legally to caste discrimination, and the best thing about the Bahujan movement is that the people are feeling empowered and responding to injustices.

The BJP has been in power at the center for 10 years and also enjoying power in many states and has to a large extent managed to bring people from the Dalit community under its fold and is consistently striving for the saffronization of Ambedkar and Ambedkarites.

Chowdhary believes that the Ambedkarite movement cannot be influenced by the attempts at saffronization of the community.

"The Ambedkarite movement stands as a revolution, steadfast and resolute. Despite attempts at saffronization to counter our cause, they are destined to falter. The roots of our movement run deep, so much so that even a child of five utters "Jai Bhim" with conviction. Thus, the saffronization of the Dalit community is an endeavor bound for failure. While some may stray, people are ubiquitous, and in due course, they will reclaim their allegiance to our foundational principles", Indu asserts with much confidence.