Patna: The tussle between the BJP and the RJD over the upper caste vote bank proves the issue is more stark now than ever. Ever since Tejashwi Yadav has made a public apology to the people of upper caste, mainly Bhumihar, the top leaders of BJP, in a fire-fighting exercise, are now giving details of what they did for the upper caste in Bihar.
In the bid to gain the trust of the upper caste, which was never the vote bank of RJD, Tejashwi has started taking part in functions organised by the groups claiming to represent the upper caste. The BJP has fully understood it and seems to be losing control on the issue so much so that it is compelled to come up with a white paper on them.
The upper caste has always been an key inclusion to electoral politics in Bihar. And why not it be! Brahmin, Rajput and Bhumihar constitute around 15 per cent of total vote share. Looking at the track record of the upper caste voting trend in Bihar, they have always supported BJP and its allies. However in the last few months, the upper caste are livid over BJP because their representation was neglected in the recently concluded by poll and council elections.
The RJD used the negligence of BJP towards the upper caste for its own benefit and their experiment was successful. It happened especially in the Bochaha by-poll when a large chunk of upper caste people believed to have voted in favour of RJD candidate Amar Paswan who defeated BJP's Baby Kumari.
The victory of RJD demonstrated the ability of RJD to penetrate into the upper caste vote bank. In fact in the MLC poll, RJD had fielded the maximum upper caste candidate which includes five Bhumihar, four Rajputs and one Brahmin. Tejashwi is doing all this to get away from the tag of being the party primarily of only the (MY) Muslim and Yadav rather it should be seen as 'A to Z' party.
Former deputy chief minister and Rajya Sabha MP Sushil Modi came with a series of tweets reminding the people of upper caste that BJP has done a lot for them and they should not fall in the trap of RJD. Sushil Modi's tweet came a day after Tejashwi had attended a programme organised by Bhumihar-Brahmin Ekta Manch in which he made a public apology to forget the past and promised to walk together with the people of upper caste.
Modi in the tweet said, “In 2020 assembly election BJP gave ticket to 15 Brahmin and 11 Bhumihar making it 26 whereas RJD insulted both castes and gave only one ticket to upper caste. It was BJP who gave the post of union minister to the Bhumihar caste. Even two ministers and the incumbent speaker of the assembly are from the Bhumihar caste.”
Sushil Modi further tweeted, “No one can forget the exploitation and humiliation to Bhumihar caste in the Lalu-Rabri regime. RJD opposed the 10 per cent reservation to the upper caste and now they are becoming the friend of Bhumihar-Brahmin caste. One by poll and council election cannot be the parameter. If BJP has made any mistake in the recent pill, the party will try to rectify those mistakes.” Despite being less in numbers, the upper caste still hold substantial influence in Bihar politics.
BJP has always ensured to consolidate their vote in their favour by raising the issues related to the upper caste community. However there was a time when the upper caste was the vote bank of the Congress party. Ever since the Congress started to support Lalu Prasad in 2000, the upper castes shifted their loyalty to BJP. The upper caste in Bihar were virtually at war ever since Lalu became the chief minister in the 90's.
The tension between upper caste and RJD grew further when Lalu infamously gave a call for Bhura Baal Saaf Karo - A perception among the upper caste was created that Lalu was trying to sideline Bhumihar, Rajput, Brahman and Lala (Kyasth). Several times, Lalu had denied saying such things in public meetings but the message spread like forest fire.
Tejashwi, during a meeting with an upper caste group, had remarked, “Babhan ka chuda, Yadav ka dahi, dono mele tab Bihar mein hoi sab sahi. (When Bhumihar-Brahmins and Yadavs come together, everything will fall in place in Bihar).
BJP core vote is sulking because a message has gone among them that upper caste are being neglected by the party leadership. This is also a warning bell for the saffron party ahead of 2024 Lok Sabha and 2025 assembly poll in Bihar. To keep their vote bank intact, the BJP has to come up with some concrete decisions so that upper castes do not slip off from their hand.
Also read: Why is Lalu's eldest son Tej Pratap Yadav throwing tantrums?
