Beyond Mayawati: Why Uttar Pradesh's 4 Crore Dalit Voters Could Decide The 2027 Election

Key Takeaways

• Beyond Mayawati: Why Uttar Pradesh's 4 Crore Dalit Voters Could Decide The 2027 Election Reported By, Edited By Last Updated: June 01, 2026, 13:15 IST With Scheduled Castes constituting nearly 21% of UP’s population---over four crore Dalits & 85 reserved assembly seats of the state’s 403---no major party can afford to ignore them Rapid Read According to Census data, Scheduled Castes significantly influence results in over 150 constituencies across western, central and eastern UP.
• (PTI) As Uttar Pradesh enters election mode ahead of the 2027 assembly polls, one political reality has become increasingly clear—the battle for Dalit votes, particularly non-Jatav Dalits who constitute nearly 21 per cent of Uttar Pradesh’s population, is set to play a crucial role when it comes to finalising the political future of the country’s most populous state.
• According to UP’s political experts, the upcoming 2027 polls are best described as the ‘battle for the Dalit vote’.
• With Scheduled Castes constituting nearly 21 per cent of Uttar Pradesh’s population—translating to over four crore Dalits and 85 reserved assembly seats of the state’s 403—no major political party can afford to ignore the community.
• While the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) once exercised near-complete dominance over Dalit politics under Mayawati, the last decade has witnessed a major churn.