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BJP in caste balancing act ahead of Bihar polls (News Analysis)
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By Imran Khan Patna, June 13
Despite Prime Minister Narendra
Modi's call for an end to caste-based politics in Bihar, a deep-rooted
tussle in the BJP between upper caste and other back caste (OBCs)
leaders, ahead of assembly polls later this year, has put the saffron
party in a dilemma.
Perhaps realising the problem, Modi and party
president Amit Shah are taking steps to ensure that none of these
leaders is allowed to dominate the public debate till the polls,
fearing it may anger either of the group causing a loss to party's
social support base.
"The BJP in Bihar is a divided house. To
project a leader from either the OBCs or the upper castes as a chief
minister candidate would antagonize the other group. BJP is not in a
position to project any one person against Nitish Kumar,who was declared
chief ministerial candidate by Janata Dal-United (JD-U), Rastriya
Janata Dal (RJD),Congress and National Congress Party (NCP) alliance" a
senior BJP leader, who did not want to be named, said.
Another
BJP leader told IANS, also on condition of anonymity, that the BJP was
sure of its traditional base of upper castes remaining intact in Bihar.
Its worry was to consolidate backward castes in view of RJD chief Lalu
Prasad joining hands with chief minister Nitish Kumar.
"If BJP
projects a backward caste leader as its face for the polls, it is bound
to anger upper caste leaders who have been in the forefront of the party
in good and bad days," he said.
In the caste-ridden politics of
the state, there are over half-a-dozen leaders from the upper castes and
the backward castes who have staked their claim for being nominated as
the chief ministerial candidate. "All of them are lobbying hard," the
BJP leader said.
BJP's upper caste leaders like C.P. Thakur, Ravi
Shankar Prasad, Rajeev Pratap Rudy and Radha Mohan Singh are the
prominent faces in the race for the top post. Similarly,BJP's backward
caste leaders include Sushil Kumar Modi, Prem Kumar and Nand Kishore
Yadav.
Thakur, in his early 80s and a Rajya Sabha member, has
repeatedly said in the last one month that he will be happy to be a
chief ministerial candidate if party gives him this responsibility to
him. Thakur belongs to the powerful landed upper caste-Bhumihars, who
are said to be overwhelming backing BJP in post Mandal politics in the
state.
Union IT and Telecom Minister Prasad, who is also BJP's
face on television channels, is known for his communication skills and
legal expertise. He belongs to the upper caste Kayasth community. There
is a saying in the local Hindi dialect that if BJP is sure of any one
support, apart from traders, it is the Kayasths. Prasad is said to be in
the good books of Modi and the Rashtria Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), the
latter for his family background as his father was one of the founder of
Jan Sangh in Bihar.
Though Prasad said that he was not in the
race for the chief ministerial post unlike Bollywood-actor-turned
politician and BJP MP from Patna Shatrughan Sinha, another Kayasth face,
leaders in the party say that Sinha was unhappy for not being taken in
as part of Modi's cabinet, is keen to be the chief minister. They say
his denial is not credible.
Rudy and Singh are 'Babusahebs' as
their powerful Rajput caste is known here. Both are close to union home
minister Rajnath Singh and the RSS. Even the name of another vocal
Hinduvta champion known for making controversial statements - Griraj
Singh,union minister of state for micro, small and and medium
enterprise, is also doing the rounds. Singh is a Bhumihar.
Since
last year a powerful group of upper caste leaders in BJP have been
opposing projection of former deputy chief minister Sushal Kumar Modi as
the chief ministerial candidate.
Modi, who is from a backward
caste is the most influential face and commands respect even among upper
castes, say some leaders. But Modi's disadvantage lies in the fact that
two BJP leaders from backward caste are also dead set against him.
Former
minister and senior BJP leader, Prem Kumar, has also staked his claim
to the chief ministership. He belongs to an extreme backward caste. "BJP
should project a leader from an extremely backward castes like him to
take on the new combination of the JD-U, the RJD, the Congress and NCP,
which were together eyeing support of the weaker sections and the
OBCs," he said.
Another backward caste leader in the fray is
Leader of Opposition Nand Kishore Yadav."His UPS is that he belongs to
the caste of RJD chief Lalu Prasad and BJP have to project a leader to
eat into the traditional support base of Lalu," BJP insiders say. Yadav
opposes Sushil Modi's projection as chief ministerial candidate.
In
Bihar, all election arithmatic relies on caste. Most parties also lean
on backward castes, dalits and Muslims. Even the Congress, till its
influence began to wane from 1989, aimed to secure support of such a
combination.
"In the 2014 Lok Sabha polls, BJP applied the trick
of wooing backwards though it got 78 percent upper caste votes. That was
much higher than the OBC votes, says socio-political analyst Soroor
Ahmad.
Ahmad said the BJP has been relying heavily on the upper
castes and had emerged as the only major party in Bihar that claims to
safeguard their interests.
With RJD chief Lalu Prasad and Nitish
Kumar, both from powerful agrarian backward castes - Yadav and Kurmi the
stage is set for a major caste battle in the state, though through the
ballot box.
(Imran Khan can be contacted at [email protected])