The recently concluded Bihar bypolls had a message not only for the political parties but for political ‘pundits’ as well, who from small windows on TV keep exaggerating the caste equation applicable in the state of Bihar. The result not only attempts to change the faulty caste lines but also comments on the future of the ‘prominent’ in the politics of Bihar.
Bihar bypoll results show that Biharis love PM Modi but loath Nitish Kumar
The man, more apt to say the politician who has been in the chair for the last 17 years, is no more the politician who received unconditional love from the Janta of Bihar. The assembly elections proved that incumbent CM Nitish Kumar is not people’s favourite, as Kumar’s Janata Dal (United) was reduced to third place.
Yet again, in the bypolls held in April this year, JD(U) maintained its third position whereas the Bhartiya Janata Party just like the assembly elections rose to prominence with highest number of seats. BJP has been constantly carving out its niche in the politics of Bihar, despite being sabotaged by Nitish Kumar.
There is another important message from the result, that must have given a shock to RJD patriarch Tejaswi Yadav.
Hidden message from Bochaha bypolls
Recently, Bochaha seat in Muzaffarpur district of Bihar went for bypoll as the seat was vacated due to the death of sitting MLA Musafir Paswan. BJP fielded Baby Kumari and late MLA’s son Amar Paswan was fielded by RJD, after being denied a ticket by his father’s party VIP.
BJP was confident of winning the elections, as Bochaha has around 55,000 Bhumihar voters, a caste seen as a loyal vote-bank of BJP. For the rest, BJP relied on ally JD(U). However, Amar Paswan emerged victorious with 36,673 votes. The polls analysis suggested that Bhumihars who have been consistent voters of the BJP, have shifted their trust.
Read More- Bihar bypoll results have a hidden message for BJP
Post-election analysis suggests that Tejaswi Yadav led RJD was able to dissuade 20-25 percent of Bochaha’s Bhumihars away from BJP. Though Tejaswi Yadav claimed Bhumihars’ support for the RJD, he missed the political equation that was at play. Also, in a state like Bihar, where RJD once used phrases like ‘Wipeout Bhumihars’, the Bhumihars as a collective would never vote for the return of ‘Jungle Raj’.
Lalu Yadav’s RJD: A curse for Bihar
Lalu Yadav truly ‘ruled’ Bihar like no other. Lalu in his reign has only filled the Yadav clan’s coffers with inundated wealth and money, and the people of Bihar who have suffered due to this are looking at them with a side-eye. Lalu Yadav may take the glory for ruling Bihar for decades, but he must also be held responsible for pushing Bihar 5 decades in the back in the rule of almost two decades.
Not to mention, Lalu Yadav’s RJD rose to prominence in 1990 following Bhagalpur riots and remained in power till 2005 on the back of the crucial Muslim-Yadav electorate that the RJD veteran had cultivated. In these years Lalu Yadav single-handedly brought the fortunes of Bihar with his inefficient and corruption filled governance.
The RJD years are referred to as Jungle Raj and for all good reasons, as the fifteen years saw everything miserable possible, from state-backed killings, kidnapping rackets and the rise of Bahubali culture. Lalu Yadav did everything to please his vote bank but the ‘loyal votebank’ has begun sidelining from RJD as they too fear the return of ‘Jungle Raj’.
Read More- Lalu Yadav— a pariah in his party
The Future of RJD in Bihar
As soon as, twenty percent of Bhumihars sided with RJD, the party started celebrating the shift in an exaggerated way. The RJD and its leadership however forgot that these are one of incidents which don’t hold the caliber to set trends.
For lack of appropriate leadership or poll promises, or trending waves the polling pattern does gets swings. But that doesn’t mean that the Bhumihars will forget the long war they have fought for their ‘Asmita’.
The desperate move by Tejaswi Yadav to bow down in front of the Bhumihar community for whom phrases were used like “भूराबालसाफकरो, तबलाबजेगाधिन-धिनतबएकपरबैठेगातीन-तीन. हाथीपड़ेपांकीमें, सियारमारेहुचुकी” shows that the MY equation engineered by Lalu Yadav is slowly losing its relevance. Tejaswi Yadav might have been tracing roadmap to make RJD “a party of all, from A to Z,” but he must remember it was his father and party patriarch Lalu Yadav who was hell-bent to humiliate the Sawarn, just for being upper castes, and none of the upper caste communities seems to be forgetting this.
Tejaswi Yadav is playing a psy-op by propagating that Bhumihars have sided with RJD. But the matter of the fact is Tejaswi is just desperate from being extinct from the politics of Bihar as the M i.e. Muslims have been snatched by Assaduddin Owaisi. Desperate Tejaswi by claiming Bhumihars’ support is on his own distancing the Yadav support base from RJD.