Predominance of caste system has been stated to be the bane of Bihar, but it’s forthcoming election is witnessing regional allies of BJP and Congress getting a lion’s share of seats lest the caste equation go awry. Keenly aware of the deciding role of caste in voting behaviour, the leadership of both the national level parties have left the constituencies reserved for Scheduled Caste candidates to the regional allies.
The Congress and the BJP have entered into a war of words over underrepresentation of the deprived sections, resevation and Constitution. The incidents of distant and recent part tell the same story.
Political observers in Bihar have been surprised of this development. But given their knowledge of real politic their astonishment is shortlived.
There is no denying the fact that the issue of caste predominates other issues of the two phase Bihar Assembly polls. But on a first glance it appears the principal election issued should have been joblessness and exodus of a significant section of the sons of the soil to the other states ought to have been the key poll issues.
Manual labour from Bihar are found in substantial numbers in every state of the country. The rate of unemployment of this election bound state is higher than the national average.
But the poll contestants of the coming elections seem to be heedless of it. Instead of arresting the exodus of Bihar youth, the contesting political outfits are engaged in a brainstorming session of social engineering to attain electoral success.
The Hindu vote in Bihar has five sub divisions namely general category or upper castes, Yadav and Other Backward Caste, Extremely Backward Caste (EBC), Dalit and Janjati. Muslim voters comprise 17.7 per cent of the total electorate.
On the other hand, EBCs comprise 36 per cent of the voters. They are followed by OBCs comprising 27.12 per cent of Hindu votes.
There are three more percentages in the Hindu votes. The upper caste have a 15.52 per cent, Dalits 19 per cent and Janjati 1.68 per cent shares.
The BJP is contesting only 11 of the 38 seats reserved for SC nominees. The JD(U) is contesting in 15 seats reserved for SC candidates while Lok Jan Shakti Party ( Ram Vilas) is contesting from eight SC seats.
It needs to be mentioned that LJP(RV)’s core voter base are Dalits. Hindustan Awam Morcha (Secular) has put up candidates in four SC reserved seats.
If NDA thought it was sitting pretty after having penned a winning formula, its joy was shortlived. Congress has fielded its nominees in 11 SC reserved seats.
The RJD is contesting in 20 SC reserved seats. The CPI(M-L) is contesting in six seats and CPI in two constituencies.
The Vikassheel Insaan Party is contesting in one seat . Thus the two opposing coalitions appear to be evenly poised before the electoral battle next month.
The share of seats of the Mahagatbandhan and NDA in 2020 elections have made the leaders of both coalition put on their thinking caps when chalking out the 2025 election game plan. Of the 38 SC reserved seats, 21 were bagged by NDA in 2020 polls while 17 went to Mahagatbandhan kitty.
The BJP contested 15 SC reserved seats and bagged nine, followed by JD(U) which fielded candidates in 17 seats and won in eight.Hindustan Awam Party contested in five seats and won three while Vikassheel Insaan Party won the single seat it had contested.
The regional parties in NDA had contested in 23 SC reserved seats and won in 12 of them. In all fairness, it made them strong contenders for SC reserved seats in 2025 elections.
Of the Mahagatbandhan partners, the RJD contested 19 of the SC reserved seats and emerged victorious in nine of them. Congress won four of the 13 seats, followed by CPI(M-L) with three SC reserved seats in its kitty and CPI winning one.
The regional parties have more than made their presence felt in the tally of seats in NDA coalition in the previous election. As for the Mahagatbandhan, the regional parties poll performance ensured their claims are not to be ignored in the next polls.
In 2020, of the 38 SC reserved constituencies the JD(U) led 11 seatus. It was followed by BJP and LJP(RV) leading six each.
In Mahagatbandhan, the Congress led in only two seats. The RJD led in seven SC Assembly segments, while CPI(ML) and VIP in one each, Independents were in lead in two SC segments.
The regional parties especially those whose core vote banks are EBC voters have flexed their “caste muscle”. Champions of national issues that the BJP and Congress claim themselves to be have failed to be match winners for them in Bihar.
Hence the largesse towards coalition partners as neither Congress nor the BJP can no longer afford to ride the high horse. Caste equations have made one time minor players, the regional allies of both the coalition partners welcome to the high table from where they were thrown crumbs and leftovers in not too distant past.
