Patna (Bihar): With the Assembly elections in Bihar fast approaching, all political parties are staking claim to the throne - while someone claims of having a standing mass base on the basis of development, the other talks about the caste equation. Unfortunately however, no Bihar election has ever been fought in the name of development.
In 2005, when Nitish Kumar and the BJP overthrew the Bihar government together, Nitish was the face and the BJP was his friend. The same remained in 2010 - Nitish's party contested 141 seats and won 115 with an absolute majority. BJP contested in 102 seats and won 91. After the differences between Nitish and BJP, new parties and faces emerged in the changed politics of Bihar following which new equations started to emerge in Bihar politics.
The politics of Bihar has never been separated from caste. Till the Congress was in power here, it dominated the caste equation in every election and made electoral gains. However, local policies did not matter much to the Congress because the decree of state politics also came from Delhi itself. The dispute between Srikrishna Sinha and Anugraha Narayan, and the former eventually becoming Chief Minister for the third time is a great example of the above.
After the Mandal commission, Bihar was not left untouched as the politics of the country changed. The JP movement is considered to be the major reason for the change in the politics of Bihar. However, the formula of JP's movement alone could not give Bihar a government. When the Mandal Commission came, Lalu Yadav became so strong that his way of operating formed such a foundation of caste politics that the Congress was also forced to follow him in Bihar.
Lalu Yadav's formula to occupy the throne was social engineering, through which he emerged as an image of a leader who gave the poor power to speak. However, as Lalu Yadav got stuck in caste politics, Nitish Kumar came out with his developmental image and in the second battle of 2005, he won the throne. The JDU and BJP government sat on the throne due to the slogan of development, but in the 2009 Lok Sabha elections, the ethnic mobilization of Lalu Yadav and Ram Vilas Paswan, managed to get some degree of distinction.
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Nitish Kumar then separated the Dalits in Bihar from the Mahadalit and Backward Castes to form the Most Backward Class (MBC). Nitish made 'Mahadalit' category for the other 21 sub-castes considered Dalits, excluding Paswan caste. Ramvilas became marginalized in the 2009 elections after becoming a 'Mahadalit' category and his party started looking for the land of its mass base in the politics of Bihar.
'Mahadalit' category was Nitish's master stroke. Nitish Kumar knew very well that he would not get the Yadav and Muslim votes if he stayed with the BJP and that the vote of these two is necessary to hold the throne of Bihar. The benefit of creating a 'Mahadalit' category, which Nitish had hoped for, was successful in the 2010 assembly elections. Under Nitish's leadership, JDU won 115 seats by contesting 141 seats, while BJP contested 102 seats and won 91 seats.
In the 2010 elections, it was assumed that Nitish Kumar's 'Mahadalit' category card fell heavily on Lalu Yadav's ethnic politics and took 10 per cent of Mahadalit and 4 per cent of Dalit votes to NDA. The situation was such that the RJD did not get a seat till the formation of the opposition party in 2010. In 2014, in the midst of a dispute within the NDA, Nitish parted ways with the BJP.
However, in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, all caste cards failed in the BJP wave. But in Bihar, Ram Vilas Paswan joined hands with the BJP and captured all the seats except Nalanda. Upendra Kushwaha of RLSP also crossed his boat in the same time.
In 2014, another chapter in caste politics was written in Bihar politics. The public rejected both the card of development and Nitish's 'Mahadalit' category in the Lok Sabha elections. Nitish put Jitan Ram Manjhi on his throne keeping the morality of politics ahead. He started the work of strengthening his party under the guise of the development.
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Nitish Kumar, who was banking on caste politics alone, was dreaming of forming the government in 2015, but Manjhi challenged him. Manjhi called himself the leader of the Mahadalits. To capture the vote bank on which Manjhi and Ram Vilas Paswan claimed to have their hold, they had to keep in agreement with the policies of the other party and hence, the political claim of their caste grip began to die.
In 2014, Bihar was in the circle of this caste-bound politics, but after Manjhi's rebellion in 2015, Nitish Kumar felt threatened about the 'Mahadalit' card and removed Manjhi from the throne. Raising himself as the leader of the Mahadalits, Manjhi then made his own party, HAM. Nitish and Lalu went with him in the 2015 assembly elections.
The BJP felt that caste politics would go on like the politics of development in Bihar, hence, keeping HAM and LJP together, the saffron party gave them seats according to their demand. In 2015, the trap of caste politics was also woven, but the result that HAM and the LJP had expected from the BJP could not match the ground reality.
Nitish Kumar's master stroke of his 'Mahadalit' category and Lalu's ground politics put the Mhagathbandhan on the throne. However, due to the changed political situation, Lalu and Nitish could not stay together for very long and eventually parted ways.
As Manjhi did not fit into the politics of the Mahagathbandhan, he made a path towards Nitish. Ram Vilas Paswan meanwhile, has given his inheritance to his son Chirag Paswan. In such a situation, the battle for Mahadalit's big face has started between Manjhi and Chirag. Manjhi joined the NDA before the 2020 Bihar Assembly elections and the LJP is part of the NDA.
While Manjhi's demand was heard, the LJP is seemingly not getting preference. In such a situation, there is a caste war between BJP and Nitish. Nitish wants to see the master stroke of his 'Mahadalit' category and BJP is trying to save this vote bank with the help of Chirag. The political interest of the battle between LJP and HAM is linked to JDU and BJP's grassroot caste politics in Bihar.
The LJP has been with the BJP since April 2014 and with Ram Vilas Paswan as a Union Minister, the aim is to keep this vote bank connected to the BJP. As soon as Manjhi and LJP clash in Bihar, it will have to be bridged by Nitish and BJP.
