Bihar Elections | Congress bets big on EBCs to reclaim Hindi heartland

Congress seeks to reclaim ground lost to Mandal-era parties and BJP’s caste coalition

The Congress’ 'Nyay Sankalp Patra' was unveiled in Bihar, but its ambition is national. The document is a carefully calibrated blueprint for the reconquest of the vast Hindi heartland — a territory the party lost first to Mandal-era champions, and then to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)’s formidable social engine. At the heart of this strategy is a clear, calculated focus on the Extremely Backward Classes (EBCs), a demographic now treated as the most valuable electoral commodity in Indian politics. 

This delivers long-overdue political recognition to the most marginalised sections — an imperative noted as far back as the Kaka Kalelkar Commission (1955).

From the OBC-dominated politics of the 1990s, we are currently in a new era focused on the EBCs. This is striking. After years of dabbling in soft Hindutva — a period marked by Rahul Gandhi being projected as a 'Janeu Dhari' or a 'Shiv Bhakt', and often accused of pushing a muddled ideology — the party has, by embracing social justice as its core theme, finally found a coherent ideology to rebuild around.

This courtship of the EBCs is a stark admission of the Congress’ political marginalisation in crucial states like Uttar Pradesh and Bihar. The rise of regional ‘kshatraps’ like the Samajwadi Party (SP) and the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) in the 1990s consolidated dominant OBC castes, such as the Yadavs, alongside the Muslims. Subsequently, the BJP, under Narendra Modi, built an unassailable coalition of upper castes and non-Yadav OBCs and EBCs. The Congress, with its pan-Indian but diluted appeal, was left with no core base. By targeting the EBCs, the party now attempts to carve out a new constituency from a group that remains fragmented and underserved in the current political landscape.

This approach is crystallised in the construction of a new social coalition: EBC-SC-ST-Minorities. This formula is designed to counter the BJP’s base while simultaneously breaking the regional parties’ hold on dominant OBC groups.

The promise of an OBC quota sub-categorisation is a direct, transactional appeal to communities feeling marginalised within the Mandal framework. It acknowledges the BJP's successful management of these social realities. The BJP maintained its upper-caste base through Hindutva, while expanding among the EBCs by forging grassroot alliances with EBC-centric parties (Nishad, Rajbhar, Patel, etc.), all while effectively portraying opponents like the SP and the RJD as dominated by single OBC castes. The Congress now seeks to disrupt this balance.

Herein lies the masterstroke of the Congress strategy: its leadership within the I.N.D.I.A. bloc in demanding a nationwide caste census. More than a manifesto promise, it is a powerful political narrative rooted in the explosive data from the 2023 Bihar Caste Survey. The survey revealed that the OBCs and the EBCs constitute a staggering 63 per cent of the state's population, with the EBCs alone forming the largest bloc at 36 per cent — dwarfing the Yadavs (14.2 per cent) and the upper castes (10.5 per cent). This data provided a tangible blueprint, transforming the EBCs from an abstract category into a precisely mapped electoral territory.

While the exact EBC population in Uttar Pradesh and other Hindi-belt states is unknown, it is undoubtedly very large and politically significant. The Congress’ push for a national census was a multi-pronged strategy: to quantify EBC marginalisation, create a ‘pro-Mandal’ identity distinct from the BJP, and consolidate the fragmented EBC vote — a move that prompted a reactive announcement from the BJP government.

These transactional promises reveal a clear instrumentalisation of the EBC vote, a strategy made possible by a historical schism first officially recognised by socialist stalwart Karpoori Thakur. His 1978 layered reservation model, which articulated the concept of a ‘backward class within backwards’, identified the wedge between dominant OBCs and marginalised EBCs that the Mandal Commission later highlighted.

The implementation of Mandal in 1990 initially propelled dominant OBC castes to power, often at the EBCs’ expense. The Congress’ current promises are a direct appeal to this historical grievance. This is politics as competitive bidding, a response to policies like the Bihar government's recent decision to raise reservations to 75 per cent. The Congress is betting that by making a more direct appeal to the EBCs than the JDU and the BJP, it can splinter the ruling dispensation’s social coalition. The aim is to convince the EBCs that they are merely ‘labarthis’ (beneficiaries) of the current government, while the Congress offers ‘nyay’ (justice) and true empowerment — a claim supported by a nascent organisational push to give more tickets and positions to EBC, SC, and ST leaders.

This strategy, however, is a double-edged sword. Positively, it brings long-overdue political recognition to marginalised sections, promises more targeted welfare, and allows the Congress to shed its image of treating caste as divisive, rebranding itself as a party of social justice.

However, the gambit carries significant risks. An overemphasis on the EBCs may alienate influential upper castes and dominant OBCs like the Yadavs and the Jats; the fear of quota reconfiguration could consolidate opposition among these groups. Learning from the BJP's successful social management is crucial: EBC consolidation cannot come at the cost of alienating other groups. The Congress must balance its outreach.

Furthermore, the strategy hinges entirely on the Congress’ ability to convince the EBCs of its credibility as a vehicle for their aspirations — a tall order for a party whose organisational machinery in these states is in tatters.

The Nyay Sankalp, therefore, is a declaration of intent. It signals that the Congress believes the path to revival in the Hindi heartland runs through the dense landscape of EBC politics. It is an attempt to forge a new coalition that can challenge both the BJP and the regional satraps. Whether this gambit will succeed remains to be seen. One thing is clear: the battle for the soul of the heartland will be fought on the terrain of caste, and the Congress has just entered the fray with a clear, if risky, strategy.

Mahendra Kumar Singh is a political commentator and teaches Political Science at DDU Gorakhpur University, Uttar Pradesh. X: @MKSinghGkp.

(Disclaimer: The views expressed above are the author's own. They do not necessarily reflect the views of DH.)