LUCKNOW, April 3 -- Focusing on Dalit votes ahead of the 2027 Uttar Pradesh assembly elections, the Congress is making a calculated return to its social justice playbook by reviving the legacy of former deputy Prime Minister Jagjivan Ram to reconnect with over three crore Dalit voters who influence nearly 150 assembly seats in Uttar Pradesh. As part of its outreach, the party will hold a seminar in Lucknow on April 4, a day before "Samata Diwas" (Equality Day), underlining the quest to reclaim Dalit support. Samata Diwas marks the birth anniversary of Jagjivan Ram. Jagjivan Ram's daughter and former Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar will be the chief guest at the seminar. She defeated Mayawati, now the Bahujan Samaj Party national president, in the 1985 Bijnor Lok Sabha by-election. The seminar on Jagjivan Ram's legacy seeks to revive memories of a Congress era when the Dalit leadership was embedded in power structures and policymaking. Uttar Pradesh Congress president Ajay Rai confirmed Meira Kumar will be the chief guest at the seminar. "The UP Congress will felicitate current and former Members of Parliament (MPs) and Members of Legislative Assembly (MLAs) belonging to the Scheduled Castes, as well as individuals from the Scheduled Castes who have performed exemplary work in social service, during the event," Rai said. "Principles of social justice championed by Babu Jagjivan Ram are now being carried forward by Rahul Gandhi," he added. The party members in Uttar Pradesh are committed to advancing this mission, standing shoulder to shoulder with their leader, he said. Rahul Gandhi was the key speaker at an event ahead of BSP founder and Dalit icon Kanshi Ram's birth anniversary in Lucknow last month. After joining the Congress in 1931, Jagjivan Ram rose swiftly. By 1946, he was the youngest minister in Jawaharlal Nehru's interim government, later shaping key labour protections, including the Minimum Wages Act of 1948. He handled crucial portfolios such as Railways, Communications and Transport before emerging as pivotal in the 1969 Congress split, siding with Indira Gandhi and even serving as president of her faction. As defence minister during the 1971 Indo-Pak war, he oversaw the Bangladesh liberation. He left the Congress in 1977 and became a key leader in the Janata Party coalition that came to power after the Emergency. From January to July 1979, he was deputy prime minister in the government led by Morarji Desai. The political messaging today is as much about Congress's past as it is about its present limitations. The party's UP unit has been remembering Jagjivan Ram every year. In 2024, the party organised the "Sahbhoj" campaign-another pre-election attempt at grassroots outreach. However, this year the scale is big, said party insiders. The move, coming a year before the 2027 elections, reflects the party's broader strategy to revive its historical social coalition and regain relevance among marginalised communities. For the Congress today, Jagjivan Ram is less a vote-mobilising figure and more a symbol of its past strength in social representation, governance credibility, and inclusiveness-useful for narrative-building, but not central to its current political strategy....