Скачать или смотреть Bihar’s Battle Royale: Will Bihar Vote Its Caste?

When it comes to Bihar elections then the caste factor cannot be brushed aside. With recent bites of Lalu where he has called the Bihar poll battle a fight between the forward and the backward, the matter has eventually picked up steam. The million dollar question that many ask is whether Bihar will vote its caste or cast its vote? We at nnis bring you this Bihar election special.

The caste factor in the Bihar election this time got a rather ugly push when Lalu Prasad Yadav in one of the campaigns in Bihar called this election a Mahabharata between the forward and the backward castes. He reportedly asked Yadav’s to stay awake and remain united and not get swayed.

He even dared the Sangh and BJP to scrap quotas. For BJP though caste does not seem to be a factor. In a state where over 50 percent of voters are below 40 years the saffron force feels that caste matters little to the young and dynamic.

While RJD chief Lalu Prasad and others are openly playing the caste card, the BJP has decided to focus its campaign on development-related issues.

BJP Leader Siddharth Nath Singh said “BJP does not do politics based on castes. Lalu Prasad Yadav does caste-based politics, who has passed a cheap statement like it will be ‘forward versus backward.’ Is this the kind of some politics? People of Bihar only seek for good governance, and development, but even today, people like Lalu Prasad Yadav are trying to divide Bihar. Jangalraj means to talk about forward-backward and divide people on the basis of their castes.”

BJP insiders claim that the young will have a major say this time. Till a few days ago, leaders replied on RJD chief Lalu Yadav's caste-based reactions. Official data shows 2.04 crore of 6.68 crore voters in Bihar are in the age group 18-29. This includes 24.13 lakh first time voters. While 27 per cent of voters are below 30 years, 57 per cent are below 40. Caste may still play a role with Other Backward Castes (OBC) and Extremely Backward Classes (EBCs), comprising 45 per cent of Bihar's electorate, a substantial chunk of youth votes have the capacity to upset traditional caste calculations say those in the know.

BJP President Amit Shah said “Nitish and Lalu pair can’t do the changes in Bihar because they have divided everything on the basis of castes. They had the power for 25 years. Still Bihar doesn’t forget the Lalu’s rule in Bihar. Lalu is coming back on the shoulders of Nitish. If they won again then ‘Jungle-raaj 2’ will come apart from ‘Jungle raaj’.”

The caste break-up of the candidates fielded by both the major formations which is the Mahagatbandhan and NDA makes interesting reading. Yadav’s remain the most politically pampered caste. The Nitish led grand alliance has fielded altogether 64 Yadav’s against the 39 seats allotted to the group comprising Rajput’s, Brahmin’s, Bhumihar’s and Kayestha’s.

Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar said “In which way is the BJP projecting JD (U)’s decision of removing someone? While forming, we did not talk about any caste and now if party has removed him then who is instigating caste? No one can be more casteist than BJP. But now the question is caste survey took place, then how will you hold back the estimation?”

JAPL Supremo Pappu Yadav said “To save Bihar from Lalu Yadav and Nitish Kumar is my first objective. To restore back love and to end caste distinction madness in Bihar is yet another target of mine”

Earlier this year speaking at an event organized for commemorating the noted poet Ram Dhari Singh Dinkar, Prime Minister, Narendra Modi reached out to the voters of Bihar assembly polls asking the people to rise above caste considerations and support the most virtuous. Narendra Modi was inaugurating the golden jubilee celebrations of the acclaimed poet Ramdhari Singh Dinkar’s works when he referred to a letter written by Dinkar in 1961, Modi said the poet was of the view that Bihar will have to "forget" the caste system and "follow the virtuous".

Prime Minister Narendra Modi said “Dinakrhji had written a letter in 1961and in that he said that for the improvement of Bihar, people will have to "forget" the caste system and "follow the virtuous. You cannot rule with the help of one or two castes; you can rule with the support of many castes. If you do not rise above caste, Bihar's social development will putrefy.”