This chapter describes the formation of the BSP in Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, and Karnataka. In Part I of this book, I argued that upwardly mobile elites in patronage-democracies seek a channel to political office in the long term but are indifferent regarding the type of party – ethnic, multiethnic, or nonethnic – that offers them such a channel. Here, I describe how, in the states of Uttar Pradesh and Punjab, a representational blockage in the competition diverted these elites toward the BSP and so enabled it to acquire the critical mass of support from elite activists necessary for party formation. In Karnataka, however, representational “openness” in the competition for these Scheduled Caste elites prevented the BSP from obtaining their support. As a consequence, the party has not been able to present itself as a viable option on the electoral market in Karnataka, despite repeated attempts.

The chapter is organized as follows: Section I describes the emergence of a class of upwardly mobile, office-seeking elites among Scheduled Castes in each of the three states under study. Section II describes the variation in opportunities for representation available to these elites in the major parties in each of these states. It shows that the Congress party and the rest of the party system in Uttar Pradesh and Punjab blocked the entry of these Scheduled Caste elites. In Karnataka, however, the Congress party and other political parties were able to incorporate these elites successfully. Section III describes the link between the representational blockage of Scheduled Caste elites and the formation of the BSP in Uttar Pradesh; Section IV does the same for Punjab; and Section V describes the link between representational “openness” and the failure of the BSP to take root as a viable political party in Karnataka.

The Emergence of Office–seeking Elites among Scheduled Castes

At independence from the British in 1947, Scheduled Castes in India participated in electoral politics mainly as benefit seekers. Less than 10 percent of the Scheduled Caste population was literate, whereas the literacy rate among the general population was at least twice as high.