India, May 12 -- In the late 1980s, the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) founder-president Kanshi Ram began to project obscure leaders from the Other Backward Classes (OBCs) as caste heroes at rallies focused on relevant communities. As part of Kanshi Ram's plan, their statues were installed in areas dominated by their followers in the rural pockets of Uttar Pradesh (UP). People heard the folklore associated with Bijli Pasi, Jhalkari Bai, Baaladin and Veerapasi among others. At the time, big parties often mocked these meetings, terming them politically inconsequential as these castes lacked the numbers and voice.

Until then, the two marginalised groups -- Dalits and backwards - were not under one political banner even though socialist leader Ra...