Oppn bloc looks to dent NDA Dalit vote bank

As the sun sets beyond the dusty cityscape of Muzaffarpur, Raghunath Ram repairs a bicycle wheel outside his home in Pokhraira.

- Saubhadra Chatterj

Ahead of the Bihar assembly polls, the cluster of shanties, home to around 15 Dalit families, is politically divided between chief minister Nitish Kumar and the face of Opposition grand alliance, Tejashwi Yadav.

While Raghunath vows his support and vote for Kumar, his friend says Dalits will support Yadav this time. The fragmented electoral choices of the Scheduled Caste voters echo across the poll-bound state.

At Jhitkahiya road in another corner of Muzaffarpur, Jagat Ram, a labourer in Bhumihar-owned farms, praises Nitish Kumar for his development work and ensuring safety to the people while adding: “We have not decided anything. Our people will sit together a few days before the polling date and take a collective call.”