Bihar Assembly Elections 2025 | Why I.N.D.I.A. bloc opening doors for Indian Inclusive Party, the new kid on the block

New Delhi: In its efforts to mobilise small caste groups to create a rainbow social coalition against the NDA in the upcoming Bihar polls, the I.N.D.I.A. bloc is keen to allocate two seats to a party formed less than six months ago.

The Indian Inclusive Party (IIP), led by IP Gupta, could get two seats from the Congress quota. Gutpa is a former engineer who entered politics by organising a massive show of strength in Patna’s historic Gandhi Maidan in April, holding a rally of the Tanti-Tatwa and Pan communities.

These caste groups are spread across northern India. Their numbers are relatively higher in eastern Bihar, West Bengal and Odisha. Like the Devangas in the south, Tanti-Tatwa and Pan are traditionally engaged in weaving and cloth trading.

The IIP’s April rally in Patna was triggered by the Supreme Court decision earlier this year, invalidating the Bihar government’s 2015 order to shift the Tanti-Tatwa-Pan communities from Extremely Backward Caste (EBC) to the Schedule Caste list. At the time of the implementation of the Mandal Commission Report in Bihar in 1992, these communities were accommodated in the Extremely Backward Caste list.

The Supreme Court order, based on the interpretation of Article 341 that spells out changes in the SC list, was entirely a domain of the parliament, triggering a strong reaction and anxiety within the community, especially those who had availed the reservation under the SC category post-2015.

The Bihar government has since filed a review petition in the apex court challenging the revocation of the SC status of Pan-Tantis. The general administration department (GAD) also stated that the community would be, for now, re-included in the backward classes schedule.

To press for the restoration of their SC status, the Pan-Tanti Mahasabha in the Patna rally in April announced the formation of the Indian Inqalab Party.

“It was later rechristened the Indian Inclusive Party, as the Election Commission suggested Inqalab was being used by many other outfits,” Gupta said in one of its interactions.

The rise of IIP is symbolic of the political empowerment of smaller caste groups who were once united under the larger Mandal umbrella. Over the years, these castes, like Dushads, Kurmis, Koeris, Nishads, and now Pan-Tantis, though numerically smaller in numbers vis-à-vis dominant castes like Yadav, have sought to assert their identity, seeking a share in the power structure.

After Ram Vilas Paswan’s LJP, or Mukesh Sanhi’s VIP (that seeks to represent the fishermen communities), Jeetan Ram Manjhi’s HAM ( with a support base among maha-dalits), IIP, representing the weaver community, is the latest entrant to the club.