What BJP’s Bihar candidates’ list tells about its deep ties with ‘savarnas’

A whopping 50 per cent of the 101 candidates fielded by the BJP for elections to the 243-member Bihar Assembly hail from the upper caste community, considered loyal to its Hindutva agenda. The saffron party’s decision to put its weight behind upper caste candidates not only exposes the gap between its lofty social justice rhetoric and practice but also reveals its longstanding reliance on ‘savarnas’ to win polls in the state.

Big bets on Rajputs, Bhumihars

The party released its first list of 71 candidates on Tuesday, the second list of 12 candidates on Wednesday and the third list of 18 candidates on Wednesday night. As per the seat-sharing arrangement within the NDA, the BJP and JD(U) will contest in 101 seats each, while the Chirag Paswan-led LJP (RV) will contest in 29, and the RLM and HAM(S) in six each.

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Of its share of 101 candidates, the BJP has fielded 49 candidates from the upper caste. This despite the fact that upper castes or savarnas, as per the 2023 Bihar Caste Census Report, account for a meagre 10.57 per cent of the total population of the state. The 10.57 per cent population constitutes Bhumihars (2.86 per cent), Brahmins (3.66), Rajputs (3.45 per cent) and Kayasthas (0.60 per cent).

Of the 49 upper caste candidates, 21 belong to the powerful Rajput community, 16 from the landed Bhumihar clan, 11 from the Brahmin community and 1 from Kayastha community.

Majority get minor representation

While debutants Maithli Thakur, a young folk singer, and former IPS officer Anand Mishra are among the prominent upper caste faces, most of the other candidates are politicians.

What is ironic is that the party’s choice of candidates goes against its strong advocacy for social justice. According to the Bihar Caste Census Report, OBCs constitute 27.1 per cent of the state’s population, EBCs 36.01 per cent, Scheduled Caste or Dalits 19.6 per cent, and Scheduled Tribes (Adivasis) 1.68 per cent.

However, despite the BJP’s drum-beating on social equality, OBCs, EBCs, Dalits, and Adivasis (tribals), who constitute around 85 per cent of Bihar’s population, have been confined to the remaining 50 per cent of its candidates’ list, with the upper caste minority walking away with the lion’s share of tickets.

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Hollow social justice slogans?

The BJP’s candidates' list has also exposed the hollowness of the slogans raised by top leaders to ensure proportionate political representation of the lower castes in light of the Bihar caste survey report, say political observers.

In the past, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has also never missed a chance to project his backward caste identity to connect with the Other Backward Classes (OBCs) and Extremely Backward Classes (EBCs), while Union Home Minister Amit Shah has proudly worn his Baniya caste (a powerful OBC caste) identity on his sleeve.

BJP leaders have also harped on promises to implement the popular Hindi slogans of social justice, “jiski jitni sankhya bhari, uski utni bhagidari” (the greater the number, the greater will be his participation) or “jitni abaadi, utni hissedari” (the greater the population, the greater the share). But the slogans and promises all remain on paper.

Backward unity a thing of the past

Political observer Satyanarayan Madan says the BJP has been pandering to upper caste appeasement because of the strong presence of savarnas in comparison to the feeble unity seen among backward classes in the state.

He says the Rajputs and Bhumihars are the communities that are leading forward caste politics in Bihar: they own landed properties, businesses, and are known for their muscle power in the rural belt, while having a strong grip on bureaucracy, judiciary, and the media.

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Besides being strong, the upper castes are also a politically well-organised community, unlike EBCs and Dalits.

“In post-Mandal politics, the divide between backward and forward castes has narrowed, and backward unity has also broken. As of now, backward unity and backward consolidation are a thing of the past,” he says. Madan cites the example of the landless Musahar caste, the poorest of the poor and most marginalised Dalit caste, which accounts for 3.0872 per cent of the population. He says while the community’s population is almost close to that of the Rajput community, it is not a secret how many Musahar candidates figure in the BJP’s list.

Fewer Yadavs, no Muslims on BJP’s list

The BJP’s candidates’ list gives minimal representation to castes loyal to the Opposition despite their large numbers. From the dominant OBC community of Yadavs, which constitutes 14.26 per cent of the population, the party has selected only four candidates.

Considered loyal to RJD chief Lalu Prasad Yadav, the Yadavs are seen as a strong force to counter the upper caste's dominance in state politics. Like Yadavs, an overwhelming number of Muslims also support the RJD, with only a small section voting for the BJP.

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In the caste-driven politics of Bihar, the BJP is also well aware that non-Yadav OBCs like Kurmis, to which Chief Minister Nitish Kumar belongs, are solidly behind him. Meanwhile, Koeris or Kushwahas are divided, with a major chunk of the EBC community leaning towards Nitish and a sizeable number backing the RJD.

The saffron party has also not chosen any candidate from the Muslim community, which constitutes 17 per cent of the total population.

Interestingly, the party has chosen only four candidates from the Bania caste, which accounts for 2.31 per cent of the population and is considered more loyal to the party than the upper castes.

“We have been supporting and voting the BJP election after election, never bothering if it will win or fail. We are the real BJP voters,” said Sonu Gupta, a wholesale trader at Mithapur Mandi in Patna.

Upper caste, BJP’s backbone

The BJP's reliance on upper castes is not a new trend and has been witnessed since the early 1990s, with the latter backing the party in Lok Sabha and Assembly polls in the post-Mandal politics era.

“Upper castes are the BJP’s main support base and its dedicated voters. The party never neglects or ignores this social group because it is its backbone and source of strength. Once upon a time, upper castes used to support the Congress, but after the party weakened and was ousted from power, they have shifted allegiance to the BJP,” says DM Diwakar, a social scientist, who has been closely watching the changing socio-political trend in the state since 90s.

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As rightly pointed out by Diwakar, even in the 2020 Assembly polls, the BJP had fielded upper caste candidates in 51 of the 110 seats it contested.

Similarly, the party fielded 65 upper caste candidates in the 2015 Assembly polls when it contested 157 seats.

Dominance since 1990s

Political watchers say that since the 1990s, most of the Bahubalis (political strongmen) and politicians, including those having criminal antecedents, who have backed the BJP, belong to the upper castes and have played a significant role in tilting the scales in its favour in polls.

The upper caste dominance in state politics can also be gauged from the fact that in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls, 12 MPs – 30 per cent of the total 40 Lok Sabha seats in the state – elected from various parties belong to the savarna (Hindu) community. In the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, 13 MPs belonging to upper castes were elected from different parties in Bihar.