Critically analyse whether caste-based mobilisation strengthens or weakens the substantive representation of Dalits in India.

Descriptive representation means the seat-holder belongs to the group; substantive representation means the group's interests actually advance. Caste-based mobilisation has unquestionably delivered Dalits entry into power, but its record on substantive outcomes is uneven — it strengthens voice while leaving delivery largely untouched.

How caste mobilisation strengthens substantive representation

• From voting to ruling: Dalit assertion politics converted a numerically large but scattered community into a governing bloc, producing a Dalit Chief Minister and a single-party majority in Uttar Pradesh in 2007 [2].
• Bargaining power: Dalit votes are now "transferable" rather than captive, forcing every party — including the Congress, with a minuscule Dalit base in UP — to run active outreach before the 2027 Assembly polls [2].
• Agenda-setting beyond the reserved seat: reservation under Articles 330 and 332 guarantees only the candidate's caste; mobilisation is what converts those seats into political demand [4].
• Intra-group assertion into policy: non-Jatav grievance over unequal access to quota benefits pushed sub-categorisation onto the agenda, later upheld in State of Punjab v. Davinder Singh (2024) [5].

Where it weakens substantive representation

• The arithmetic trap: Scheduled Castes are about 22% of UP's population [1]; in a reserved constituency every voter votes, so the winner depends on a non-Dalit majority and pressing Dalit-specific demands carries electoral cost [4].
• A locked-in vote need not be earned: even after years of Dalit-led government, crimes against SCs remain a large, separately tracked category, with over three lakh cases pending in court under the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989 [3] — power sits at the top, blockage at the police-station and trial-court level.
• Fragmentation risk: Jatav support for the BSP fell from 86% (2007) to 65% (2022), and a party built on one sub-caste can be broken by splitting its base [2].

Caste mobilisation has won Dalits dignity and access to power, but not yet safety, working courts, or equity within the SC category. Exclusive Special Courts for atrocity cases, annual publication of State-wise conviction and pendency data, and data-based sub-categorisation would convert bloc voting into accountable governance — realising Article 46's promise of protection from social injustice.