First Kar Sevak Kameshwar Chaupal in for big role in Bihar

The BJP is likely to reward Kameshwar Chaupal, a Dalit leader who had laid the foundation brick of Ram Temple, with key responsibility in the Bihar cabinet.

The buzz is that he might be appointed as the deputy chief minister in the government led by Nitish Kumar. An announcement is expected to be made at a meeting of NDA legislators in Bihar on November 15.

The move will help the BJP consolidate its Hindutva appeal among Dalits, who form a sizeable population in adjoining Uttar Pradesh (UP), where Yogi Adiyanath’s government has received flak on Dalit atrocity issues.

Besides, the death of Ram Vilas Paswan and his son Chirag Paswan revolting against Nitish Kumar recently has led the Janata Dal (United) (JD(U)) to insist that LJP must not be a part of the NDA. Chaupal’s elevation will help the BJP project a Dalit leader from its own stable. The poor show of the LJP has already raised doubts about the efficacy of Paswan’s son to contribute to the NDA in the longer run.

Kameshwar Chaupal, who had laid the foundation stone for a Ram temple in Ayodhya in 1989, is the lone Dalit member of the newly formed Ram Janmabhoomi Teertha Kshetra Trust that will construct the temple. The RSS used to call him first Kar Sevak as he laid the first brick for the construction of the Ram temple.

Chaupal unsuccessfully contested the 1991 Lok Sabha polls on the BJP ticket from Rosada in Bihar against late Ram Vilas Paswan. He later contested the Bihar assembly elections in 1995 from Begusarai but lost again.

In 2002, he was elected as a Member of the Legislative Council (MLC). He could not win the Lok Sabha polls in 2014. He was the convenor of Shriram Lok Sangarsh Samiti in Bihar and BJP general secretary in Bihar. He was in the past involved in election campaigning.

Chaupal told reporters that he has discharged whatever responsibility was given to him in the past and will fulfill the future responsibilities well.

If Sushil Kumar Modi continues to be a deputy minister, two of them will signal the increased importance of the BJP in Bihar.