Attack on Dalit CJI sparks Oppn offensive

With a Delhi-based lawyer attacking Chief Justice of India B.R. Gavai citing an “insult to Sanatan Dharma,” Bihar’s opposition Mahagathbandhan has seized on the issue to target the JD(U)-BJP alliance ahead of the high-stakes Assembly polls, seeking to consolidate Dalit support that played a decisive role in 2020.

- SHIKHA SALARIA

The RJD, already wooing the Extremely Backward Classes (EBCs) through its Atipichhda Nyay Sankalp—a 10-point plan for their empowerment—has also released a Dalit-Adivasi Nyay Sankalp, a 17-point charter focused on the “social, educational and economic development” of Dalits.

Dalits form nearly 20 per cent of Bihar’s population, including Paswans (Dusadhs), Ravidasis, and Musahars. According to Lokniti-CSDS data from the 2020 polls, 22 per cent of Paswans voted for the MGB and 17 per cent for the NDA; 34 per cent of Ravidasis backed the MGB and 27 per cent the NDA, while 65 per cent of Musahars voted for the NDA and 24 per cent for the MGB. Despite their demographic strength, Dalits remain socially and economically marginalised, their political leadership fragmented across sub-castes—unlike in Uttar Pradesh, where Mayawati’s BSP once united the bloc.