Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, Union Ministers Jitan Ram Manjhi and Chirag Paswan and others during a public meeting ahead of the state Assembly elections.
Credit: PTI
New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday kicked off the BJP’s campaign in Bihar with a visit to Karpoorigram, the birthplace of former chief minister Karpoori Thakur, where he paid tributes to the socialist icon. It isn’t the first time the BJP has celebrated Thakur — the man who ignited Bihar’s caste-based reservation movement.
With assembly elections nearing, the BJP’s effort to appropriate Thakur’s legacy comes even as the Congress accuses the party’s predecessor, the Jan Sangh, and the RSS of vilifying him in the 1970s when he introduced reservations. The reason for the saffron party’s renewed interest lies squarely in Bihar’s caste arithmetic.
Thakur, who belonged to the Nai community, mentored many of Bihar’s most prominent backward caste leaders — from RJD founder Lalu Prasad Yadav to JD(U) chief minister Nitish Kumar and the late Ramvilas Paswan, whose son Chirag is now an NDA ally. Among the Extremely Backward Castes (EBCs), Thakur is still revered as the tallest leader.
The BJP has long sought to give him due recognition. Earlier this year, the NDA government posthumously conferred the Bharat Ratna on Thakur, just months ahead of the Lok Sabha polls. His birth centenary was celebrated widely, and his son, Ram Nath Thakur, now serves as a Union minister of state.
EBCs make up 36% of Bihar’s population, according to the recent caste survey, and include communities such as Nai, Teli, Lohar, Sahani, Kevat, Mallah, Nonia, Chandravanshi, Barhai, Dhuniya (Muslim), Kanu, Kumhar, and Kunjra (Muslim). Together with other backward classes (27%), they constitute about 63% of the state’s voters — a block no party can afford to ignore.
This time, the BJP has consciously distributed more tickets among EBC leaders — four to the Teli community, three to Kanu, and one each to Rajbanshi, Nonia, Mallah, Kahar, Dhanuk, Dangi, Chaurasiya, and Bind candidates.
Traditionally, EBCs backed the RJD until 2020, when many shifted allegiance to Nitish Kumar’s JD(U). In that election, 58% of EBCs voted for the NDA, compared to just 18% for the Mahagathbandhan.
To counter the BJP’s caste calculus, the INDIA alliance has projected Mukesh Sahni, a leader from the Nishad community, as its deputy chief ministerial face — a move aimed at cutting into the NDA’s growing EBC base.