Bhim Army and Dalit Social Media mobilisation in North India

This project examines the rise of the Bhim Army—a grassroots Dalit rights organisation—and its innovative use of social media to mobilise support, shape identity, and challenge caste hierarchies in North India. Set against the backdrop of the decline of the Bahujan Samaj Party and the ascent of Hindu nationalism, the study situates the Bhim Army within a broader lineage of Dalit-Bahujan politics. Using a mixed-methods approach that combines digital ethnography, semi-structured interviews, and network analysis of over one million social media posts, the thesis explores how the Bhim Army constructs a hybrid digital counterpublic, blending online activism with on-ground resistance. It argues that the organisation’s mobilisations reflect a form of radical constitutionalism—redefining power, asserting victimhood, and forging new political imaginaries through digital means. The thesis contributes to emerging scholarship on caste, digital mobilisation, and social movements in contemporary India.

Representative images

I have two journal articles published from this project. One in South Asia: Journal of South Asian Studies (Kulshreshth, 2023) and the other in South Asia Multidisciplinary Academic Journal (Kulshreshth, 2023). I have also written a public-facing newspaper article on the Azad Samaj Party’s win in Nagina for the Indian Express (Kulshreshth, 2024)

References

2024

In Chandrashekhar Azad’s win in Nagina, Mayawati and the BSP’s tale of decline

Shantanu Kulshreshth

Jun 2024

Abs

It remains to be seen how effectively Azad and the ASP can capitalise on this win to expand beyond Western UP and take up the space left by the BSP

2023

‘Social Media Is the Second Ambedkar’: Bhim Army and Social Media Mobilisation in North India

Shantanu Kulshreshth

South Asia: Journal of South Asian Studies, Sep 2023

DOI
“The State is the Biggest Goonda”: Civic Masculinity, Radical Victimhood, and Power in Bhim Army Discourse

Shantanu Kulshreshth

South Asia Multidisciplinary Academic Journal, Dec 2023

Abs DOI

This paper explores the emergence of the Bhim Army, a Dalit-led social movement in North India that has gained significant political influence in recent years. In doing so, it develops the idea of “boss power” as a cultural repertoire in North India through which marginalized actors negotiate and engage with the state and society. It shows how the organization creates new identities based on masculinity, civic duty, and radical victimhood to enact power in response to caste marginalization and state capture. However, despite its attempts to build a diverse base, the Bhim Army’s appeal remains limited in terms of gender and class.