BIHAR AND ITS CASTE DYNAMICS Caste determines election outcome in Bihar. Prime Minister Narendra Modi had successfully found support cutting across caste lines in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections. Here is a look at how Bihar’s castes stack up and their likely voting behaviour in the absence of a ‘Modi wave’ OTHER BACKWARD CLASSES (OBCs): 50% (of Bihar’s population) Kurmis and Koeris account for 11%. These have solidly been behind Nitish Kumar, a Kurmi, all these years, but now BJP-ally Rashtriya Loktantratik Samata Party (RLSP)’s Upendra Kushwaha, a Koeri, has emerged a rival Yadavs are 15% and support Lalu Prasad Other OBCs, categorised as EBCs or extreme backward castes, have been with Lalu but Nitish has successfully wooed them in recent years

Castes of approximately 2% of the population ‘unknown’ UPPER CASTES: 15% Rajputs 5%, Bhumihar 4%, Brahmins 5% and other upper castes 1%, earlier with the Congress and now substantially with BJP but Nitish found support with his DALITS: good governance 16% The Nitish government MUSLIMS: sub-categorised 18 Dalit 17% castes into Mahadalits, later adding three more to Muslims form the first half of Lalu’s bring the number to 21. These comprise 11-12%. ‘MY’ or ‘Muslim-Yadav’ alliance, but Former chief minister Jitan Ram Manjhi is a Mahadalit supported Nitish in the 2010 Assembly and could dent Nitish’s support base among these elections. An undivided Muslim vote castes. Only the Paswans, supporters of BJP-ally Ram for the RJD-JD(U)-Congress alliance Vilas Paswan’s Lok Janshakti Party, are outside the will be bad news for BJP Mahadalit category, and comprise 4-5 %

Source: Caste data from Census data and CSDS Compiled by Archis Mohan