Academic Social Research ISSN NO.:2456 2645

Electoral politics of Bihar and politicization of backward castes - An analysis

Dr. Deepak Kumar 1 1Assistant Professor, Department of Political Science, Pt. Yamuna Karyi Jayanti College, Bagahi, Muzaffarpur.

History testifies that Bihar has been at the centre of politics in India for a very long time. Many significant political changes that have taken place in India during the last several decades have had their genesis in Bihar. Not only was Bihar the epicenter of pro- and anti- Mandal agitations in the 1990s, the state was also the epicenter of the anti-Emergency movement of 1975, popularly referred to as the ‘JP Movement’ and led by the great socialist leader Jayaprakash Narayan when the Prime Minister Indira Gandhi imposed a national emergency. It is important to mention that Bihar played an important role in bringing about political changes even during the British rule. Mahatma Gandhi began his famous Indigo movement-called the Champaran Movement in our history books-in 1917 against the British in Champaran, a district in the northeastern region of the state. The nature of political contest and political representation in North Indian states during the post-Mandal period also had deep roots in Bihar. The post-Mandal politics in Bihar began as a contest between the established national party, , and , which had newly emerged on the national stage, in the 1990s. It has now turned into an electoral battle between two fragments of Janata Dal-the (RJD) and the Janata Dal (United) or JD (U)-which have become the dominant regional political parties, with the two national political parties- the Congress and the Bharatiya (BJP)-playing second fiddle as alliance partners. While occasionally forming an alliance with the RJD, the Congress also went alone in a few elections. Moreover, the BJP and JD(U) led by Nitish Kumar have managed to form a durable alliance since the 1996 elections. Other regional parties such as the Ram Vilas Paswan-led (LJP); Left parties such as the (Marxist) (CPM), the Communist Party of India (CPI), and the Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist) (CPML); and a few smaller regional parties contributed to electoral politics during the last three decades. The two archrivals in Bihar politics, Nitish Kumar and Lalu Prasad, came together and formed an electoral alliance, referred to as , with the singular aim of preventing a BJP win in Bihar. The grand alliance (GA) managed to win the 2015 assembly elections by defeating the BJP and its allies LJP and Rashtriya Lok Samata Party (RLSP), and formed the government; however, this

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Academic Social Research ISSN NO.:2456 2645 government was short-lived. Nitish Kumar decided to break the alliance with the RJD due to the allegation of corruption charges against and CBI raids on his deputy Tejashwi Yadav and other members of the ruling RJD. Nitish Kumar demonstrated his zero tolerance for corruption, but ended up forming the government with the party that he criticized as being communal during his campaign of the 2015 assembly election. If there was something unusual about Nitish Kumar forming a Mahagathbandhan with Lalu Prasad Yadav and the Congress before elections, it was no less strange than his forming the government with the BJP against whom he managed to win the mandate of the people of Bihar. Each of the regions exhibits its own unique blend of social and cultural values, with a language and tone different from the others. Caste plays an important role in the politics of the state, and the chapter rightfully pays attention to the various caste dynamics in the social and political spheres. From an upper-caste dominated power structure, the politics in Bihar during the post-Mandal period, which this book is all about, has got transferred to the dominant middle castes, namely, the OBCs in general and the Yadavs in particular. The Yadavs and the Muslims constitute a sizeable portion of the voters in Bihar. The sizeable presence of Muslims in districts such as Katihar, Darbhanga, Purnia, Siwan, and a few others has resulted in political parties looking at the Muslims as their vote bank. The mobilization by some political parties centers around the Muslims. A section in this Article gives a brief history of the important political parties in Bihar, its electoral history and its leadership. The third phase (1990 and after) is marked by complete reversal of the first phase, that is, marginalization of the Congress party and the upper castes in the politics of the state. The Article analyses in great detail the various phases of the electoral history of the state. The 1990s marked the beginning of the political domination of regional parties in many states including Bihar. This in a way was also the beginning of OBC politics in Bihar, after V.P. Singh became the prime minister of India following the 1989 Lok Sabha election. After V.P. Singh became prime minister, the state witnessed the first assembly election in 1990. we discusses in detail the process of political mobilization and the political outcome of the 1990 and 1995 assembly elections. The 1990 assembly elections witnessed the formation of a non-Congress government after a long time, with Lalu Prasad Yadav becoming the chief minister of the state for the first time. The rise of regional parties and the clout of backward castes are weighed against a declining Congress authority, and an in-depth analysis of both phenomena is done to understand its possible mechanics. Furthermore, the relation of caste and religious identities vis-à-vis political parties is analyzed with the help of rich evidence collected by the Lokniti-Centre for the Study of Developing Societies (CSDS) team through surveys to 131 Page UGC APPROVED Impact Factor :3.213 Vol 4 Part 1 (2018) Jan to March

Academic Social Research ISSN NO.:2456 2645 examine the dynamic nature of political alliances and the effects they have on political parties. Questions of voters’ behavior and motivations take centre stage as the chapter reflects on the nebulous nature of Bihar’s politics, where change remains the only constant and the relationship between a voter, a party, and a leader is subject to a complex, multi-layered society. primarily deals with the political scenario in Bihar post 1999 Lok Sabha elections. While the BJP-JD(U) combine won convincingly in these elections, by the time of the assembly elections in the state, there was damaging infighting that benefited the RJD- Congress alliance, which registered a thumping victory. focuses on the 2005 assembly elections, and examines in minute detail the voting patterns and coalition politics that drove these momentous elections. For most observers of politics in the state, these elections marked the beginning of a new era for not just the politics in Bihar but also the social and economic life here. Nitish Kumar’s rallying slogan, “Nutan Bihar”, firmly established his name among stalwart leaders, not just of the state but also of the country. In the coming years, the story of an impoverished Bihar racked with inefficiency, corruption, and crime would undergo significant changes, which could be credited in large part to the rainbow coalition that Kumar sought to create. The Article offers evidence of the nuanced manner in which the dynamics of social justice were incorporated in the state action, ranging from the creation of the Mahadalit Commission to the thrust on female empowerment and the resultant political gains. Both these aspects manage to give a cohesive picture of a period of visible reforms within the state and firmly establish Nitish Kumar as the face of changing politics of a new Bihar.If the 2009 Lok Sabha elections were a powerful blow to the dominance of the RJD and its leader Lalu Prasad Yadav, then the 2010 assembly election was a cause of further embarrassment. Both the voter share and the number of seats declined sharply, causing many observers to believe that the people had finally and summarily rejected Lalu Prasad Yadav’s politics of social justice and had put their faith in the model of development presented by Nitish Kumar. an effort has been made to understand the efficacy of such an argument. Reflecting on the diverse social and political culture in the different regions of Bihar, the Article argues for heterogeneity of reasons that exist for the popular verdict in favor of Nitish Kumar (and against Lalu Prasad Yadav). First, it marked the end of the decades-long alliance between the JD(U) and the BJP; second, the public mandate received by the BJP was the clearest mandate given to any political party at the national level during the past several decades; and finally, it brought unlikely alliance partners together to claim victory in Bihar. Breaking away from their successful partnership with Nitish, the BJP joined hands with Ram Vilas Paswan’s LJP and Upendra Kushwaha’s RLSP, which made the alliance the unchallenged victor from 132 Page UGC APPROVED Impact Factor :3.213 Vol 4 Part 1 (2018) Jan to March

Academic Social Research ISSN NO.:2456 2645

Bihar, winning 31 of the 40 Lok Sabha seats of the state. The results of the 2014 Lok Sabha election were popularly referred to as victory of politics of development over caste alliance. This Article reopens the debate between caste and development, also mentioned in the previous chapter, but this time in favour of the BJP and against the success story of Nitish’s transformative policies. Attributing the BJP’s win to a number of factors such as anti- incumbency against the Congress and the promise of transformative, fast-paced development by the BJP, the chapter argues that while traditional caste loyalties changed, it is in no way a reflection of the absolute rejection of caste in favor of development. The analysis ends with a hint at the future possibilities about electoral politics in Bihar in general and more so about the future of Nitish Kumar and his image, his popularity in particular. The question remains: Will Nitish Kumar be able to gain electorally from his new political move in alliance with new partners, or has he managed to burn his fingers while offering Yagya (Havan ) to prove his zero tolerance for corruption?

Conclusion

Modern state power is sought as much by those whose privileges could not be supported by the caste ideology of the yore as by those who wish to create a new ideological hegemony around the twin ideas of political representation and social justice. The makers of the caste- based culture of exploitation as well as the challengers to such iniquitous relations of dominance and sub-ordination have equally taken to the virtues of democratic politics in an unparalleled fashion. It is this immense faith in the emancipator potential of democracy which makes it possible for a poor low-caste villager to cast his vote in Sitamarhi to see his leader acquiring power in Patna. And, his is not merely a primordial act of caste loyalty for he has come to see the unforeseen connections between the workings of power and dominance in his village, (his block and his district) and the social character of ministers and MLAs and MPs and bureaucrats who decide on issues of larger importance in the capital. This demystification of the everyday workings of power would not have been possible without the expansive reach of the democratic imaginary through whatever route it has taken. Such an understanding privileges the way modern democracy is experienced substantively in its myriad manifestations by groups constituted differently than many standard assumptions about liberal notions of democracy would have us believe. Without discounting democracy’s normative content, this paper underlines the need to document its varied cultural histories not only to critique and problematic its universal pretensions but also to entertain the possibility

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Academic Social Research ISSN NO.:2456 2645 of democracies. All said and done, democracy does need the support of the exegetical prowess of its bright and ingenious theorists; it needs the services of ethnographers no less. It would be foolhardy to dispense with the meticulous ethnographic interrogation of democracy’s actual practices. And, to that extent, we can celebrate the increasing critical anthropological engagements with democracy.

References

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