By Badri Narayan
Phanishwar Nath Renu, the eminent novelist who used to write on the social-political churning in Bihar, made two important observations on the society and development politics in Bihar in his most famous work, Maila Anchal (The Soiled Linen).
Firstly, he observed that “in one society, multiple societies coexist”. He mapped how caste-based societies work and function under the umbrella of one society in Bihar. He documented how people belonging to the same caste described themselves as “baradari” or “samaj”. Secondly, he underlined how this caste “bhav” (feeling) of the society in Bihar and other parts of India hamper development.
These observations that he made in the first decades of independent India continue to be relevant. If one converses with people in Bihar to understand electoral politics there, it isn’t unusual to hear them say that “this candidate belongs to my samaj”. The word here doesn’t denote a macro-society (“sarv samaj”) that is usually the case but in the micro sense—that is a society composed of the same caste.
In the upcoming Assembly elections, one can find the prevalance of caste in development and Bihari identity-based discourses, like threads in the structure of political mobilisation. The relevance of Renu’s second observation is also evident in the election-based democracy that is committed to making a modern society while confronting caste in our everyday life. It is true that in some cases, caste may help marginal communities to become upwardly mobile. However, in most cases, it weakens the democratic fervour of society.
In this year’s election, development of Bihar has emerged as a core part of the electoral discourse. But like earlier, caste still works as a significant, cementing force for various mobilisations that contesting political parties are vying for. Bihar is known for the dominant presence of other backward castes (OBCs) in politics. Yadavs, Kushwahas, and Kurmis acquired a capacity for political aspiration ahead of others in the OBC bracket as well as most backward castes (MBCs). These three communities formed an organisation named Triveni Sangh in the first decades of the 20th century. They produced leaders and started asserting their share in politics and power effectively in pre-Independence India. Due to this historical edge, they emerged as the most powerful communities in Bihar politics in recent decades. According to the recent caste-based survey by the state government, the Yadavs with all their sub-castes together constituted 14.26% of Bihar’s population, with Kushwahas forming 4.21% and Kurmis 2.87%.
If one analyses the political history of Bihar, among OBCs Yadavs appear as the largest community. It evolved its own caste-based politics more powerfully than other OBCs and extremely backward castes in Bihar. The Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) holds the largest Yadav vote base, although other political parties have also given representation to Yadav leaders.
Due to the political visibility and aggressive social assertion of Yadavs, at times other castes among OBCs such as Kurmi, Kushwaha, Dhanuk, Kumhar, Nai, and Chaurasia have formed a social alliance in support of their politics and countering the RJD. The Janata Dal (United) (JDU) including its leader, Nitish Kumar, is a product of a non-Yadav rainbow alliance of OBCs and other castes. In this arithmetic of politics, MBCs play a crucial role and most of the time, a section of them favours Kumar and also supports the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). This sense of marginalisation due to the dominance of one caste forms a political psychology of the public that many a times harms the RJD. However, the RJD also tries to give representation to leaders from significant OBCs and MBCs. So, in Bihar politics, binaries have emerged between the dominant and non-dominant, the politically most visible and those aspiring for visibility, the marginalised and the most marginalised, and between the newly rich and dominant OBCs and the upwardly mobile OBCs and MBCs.
In contrast with many states, Bihar’s politics now does not accommodate a forward-backward binary that was witnessed in the pre-90s era. The contest is more among various OBC communities for their own political share and visibility. It may appear a clash of silent aspirations of various backward communities for political visibility. In this grammar of political assertion, a sense of dominant versus non-dominant may play a crucial role and favour the National Democractic Alliance (NDA) in the Bihar polls. The RJD may appear more dominant in terms of electoral visibility, but in the process the party could become a catalyst in uniting the non-dominant sections in favour of the JD(U) and the BJP. That can be a counter-mobilisation. In other words, the RJD’s greater visibility and aggressive campaigning may help it to fight the election effectively. But it may also result in a cohesive counter-mobilisation against it.
Also, the beneficiaries of a “double-engine sarkar” (Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led central and Kumar-led state governments) may dilute the polarisation of castes and form overlapping social groupings that benefit the NDA. Modi’s development discourse could also be an influential factor. Meanwhile, the entry of Prashant Kishor and his Jan Suraaj Party, and his strategy to craft a contest based on Bihar’s development and identity may influence the election discourse, but it may not be effective enough at the grassroots to translate into votes.
This Bihar election has multiple political epicentres in which communities that are smaller in numbers could play an outsized role in the eventual outcome. The upper castes, who are numerically weak in Bihar, may emerge as a balancing factor in determining results in various constituencies. It is fair to say that “small is powerful” in this election. Last but not the least, due to the several strong epicentres, this election will see various fragmentations of votes. So, in my view, rather than consolidation it is the fragmentation of votes that holds the key to success. The party that goes on to mobilise many small social groups and add to its vote base will have the best opportunity to win.
The writer is Director, GB Pant Social Science Institute, Allahabad