Bihar’s caste plus politics

Parties across the political spectrum now prioritise governance and development in their campaigns over identity concerns

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In an interview with this newspaper, the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) leader and the chief ministerial face of Mahagathbandhan, Tejashwi Yadav, spoke at length about a new agenda of development for Bihar, jobs, financial empowerment of women, schemes, and law and order. Conspicuous by its absence was any talk about caste empowerment, which was the foundational idea of the RJD under Yadav’s father, Lalu Prasad. This shift — evident in the Mahagathbandhan manifesto released on Tuesday — is not merely a tactical manoeuvre but an acknowledgement of a new political reality in Bihar, which is no longer circumscribed exclusively by caste.

Since the advent of Mandal politics in the 1990s, caste identity has been the fulcrum of Bihar’s electoral politics. During the 15 years of RJD rule, empowerment of oppressed communities, described in broad terms as social justice politics, defined the political discourse and governance. Nitish Kumar broke this paradigm by exploiting the hierarchies within the OBC and Dalit spectrum and winning over sections of them. He also introduced a gender dimension to the empowerment discourse with schemes focussed on women. Kumar’s own political lineage — JP Movement and Mandal — helped him further this politics, in association with the BJP. The RJD was late to recognise that Mandal politics had become more nuanced than it was in Lalu’s heyday. Under Tejashwi, the party seems to be tweaking its stance and is taking pains to explain that it is more than just a Muslim-Yadav party and purveyor of identity politics. The shift in narrative has also been accentuated by Prashant Kishor, a political newbie but effective communicator, who has been amplifying governance issues in his campaign. His message has found a resonance among the new aspirational class which no party can ignore.