Rising atrocities against Dalits on the one hand and the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) and the Bharatiya Janata Party's (BJP) ongoing attempts to integrate the Dalit community into their broader Hindu nationalist (Hindutva) base on the other, expose an inherent contradiction. The BJP seeks to include Dalits—who constitute about 16% of India's population—because they represent a significant vote bank. Yet it also strives not to alienate its core upper-caste supporters.

The core philosophy of Hindutva envisions a homogenised Hindu society, which often clashes with Dalit assertions for systemic change and equality inspired by leaders like BR Ambedkar.

Ambedkar's vision of nationalism was constitutional and ethical rather than cultural or religious. He envisioned a secular state guaranteeing liberty, equality, and fraternity. His idea of India was inclusive—embracing all communities based on equal citizenship, not religious identity.

In contrast, Hindutva, as articulated by VD Savarkar and later propagated by the RSS, defines India primarily as a Hindu Rashtra—a nation bound by common ancestry, culture, and heritage. While Hindutva seeks to unify Hindus across caste divisions, it sidelines caste-based oppression by emphasising cultural unity over structural equality.

The RSS promotes the idea that caste divisions are distortions of Hinduism and that all Hindus belong to a single cultural family. However, in practice, Hindutva's approach has largely failed to confront the deep-rooted social hierarchies that Ambedkar exposed.

To overcome this dilemma, the RSS has developed a calculated strategy. Over the decades, the RSS and its affiliated organisations have made deliberate efforts to reach out to Dalits through initiatives such as Samajik Samrasta (social harmony) programs, temple entry campaigns, and the celebration of Ambedkar Jayanti.

The BJP, the political arm of the Sangh Parivar, has also sought Dalit support through a combination of welfare schemes, social engineering, and symbolic gestures. The Modi government's focus on "inclusive development" and the delivery of welfare programs—such as housing, sanitation, and cooking gas—has appealed to poorer sections of the Dalit community.

The BJP effectively courted several smaller, non-Jatav Dalit sub-castes that felt neglected by dominant Dalit parties, such as the BSP, offering them recognition and a sense of belonging within the broader "Hindu" identity. The party also provided greater representation to Dalit leaders in prominent positions. One of them is the appointment of a Dalit woman as President of India—an act that resonated deeply with the community's aspirations for dignity and inclusion.

As a result of these strategies, the BJP was able to significantly expand its Dalit vote share. The party secured about 24% of the national Dalit vote in 2014—a sharp 12-point increase from the 2009 elections—surpassing the Congress's Dalit vote share for the first time at the national level. Its performance improved further, reaching approximately 34% of the Dalit vote in 2019, and it won a large majority of the 84 Scheduled Caste (SC) reserved constituencies. This success was attributed to effective social engineering, the decline of the BSP in many regions, and the consolidation of non-Jatav sub-castes.

However, in the 2024 general elections, the BJP suffered a setback, as its national Dalit vote share declined by about five percentage points. The party won only 29 SC-reserved seats compared to 46 in 2019. In key states like Uttar Pradesh and Maharashtra, a significant section of Dalit voters shifted to the INDIA bloc, often expressing fears that the BJP might amend the Constitution or end reservations.

Despite the BJP's success in increasing its Dalit vote share through various strategies, there has been no decline in atrocities against Dalits during Narendra Modi's tenure. According to data from the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB), cases of atrocities against Scheduled Castes have shown a generally rising trend since 2014, with some year-to-year variations. The total number of cases increased from 47,064 in 2014 to 57,789 in 2023. Media outlets have reported several incidents of violence against Dalits in the latter half of 2025.

On November 3, 2025, The Telegraph reported that a Dalit farm labourer, Hausila Prasad, was beaten to death by a wealthy landowner and his associates in an Amethi village in Uttar Pradesh. The murder reportedly occurred after Prasad demanded ?2,500 in unpaid wages from the upper-caste landowner, Shubham Singh.

The Indian Express reported on November 6 that three Railway Protection Force (RPF) personnel were booked for murder after the custodial death of a 35-year-old Dalit man, Sanjay Kumar Sonkar, in Gonda district, Uttar Pradesh. Sonkar was detained on suspicion of theft and died in custody, with his family alleging torture.

Earlier, on October 2, 2025, Hariom Valmiki, a Dalit man, was lynched by a mob in Raebareli after being suspected of theft. A viral video showed men beating him with belts and sticks until he succumbed to his injuries. Following public outrage, the police suspended three officers, including a sub-inspector, removed the Station House Officer, and arrested five individuals. Rahul Gandhi visited the victim's family to offer condolences and support.

In another case, a 65-year-old Dalit man named Rampal was allegedly humiliated and assaulted near the Sheetla Mata Temple in Kakori, Lucknow, after he accidentally urinated near the temple due to a chronic illness. The accused, Swamikant alias Pammu, allegedly forced Rampal to lick the urine, clean the spot, and hurled casteist slurs at him. The incident took place in the fourth week of October 2025.

Earlier that year, The Times of India (April 22, 2025) reported the killing of a 20-year-old Dalit youth at a poultry farm in Amethi, Uttar Pradesh. He was attacked with sharp weapons and sustained multiple head injuries.

On June 24, 2025, The Indian Express reported that nine people were detained after a mob forcibly shaved the heads of two Dalit men and made them crawl over allegations of cow smuggling in Odisha's Ganjam district. According to police, the victims had bought a cow and two calves and were returning home when a mob accosted them, demanded ?30,000, and assaulted them when they refused. The mob also made them drink sewage water and filmed the incident.

The RSS–BJP's failure to change upper-caste attitudes towards Dalits is likely a major reason for the continuing atrocities. Critics argue that the RSS's acceptance of Dalits is conditional and hierarchical—rooted in assimilation within a Hindu framework rather than genuine empowerment or redistribution of social power. Ambedkar's critique of Hindu society precisely targeted this tendency to absorb marginalised groups without dismantling structural inequalities.

For an inclusive society to emerge, recognition of caste-based injustice and a genuine commitment to structural equality—principles central to Ambedkar's vision and the Indian Constitution—must move from rhetoric to reality. Until then, the Hindutva project and Ambedkarite ideals will remain parallel yet divergent paths in India's socio-political landscape.