Why Rahul, Tejashwi's EBC Nyay resolution is key to Grand Alliance's Bihar poll strategy

Shortly after the Congress sounded its poll bugle for the upcoming Bihar Assembly polls, on Wednesday (September 24), party leader Rahul Gandhi was joined by leaders of the Grand Alliance, the RJD’s Tejashwi Yadav among them, to release a 10-point manifesto directed specifically at the state’s Extremely Backward Classes (EBCs).

Strategised EBC outreach

The promises enlisted in the Opposition alliance’s joint resolution for “EBC Nyay” are significant. They not only break from the electoral tradition of an omnibus manifesto catering to diverse subjects but, more importantly, provide a glide-path for emancipation of a segment, which, despite constituting over 36 per cent of the state’s electorate, figures at the bottom of socio-political and economic indices of Bihar. But then, with elections to the state Assembly barely weeks away, of greater relevance, arguably, are the optics of Wednesday’s event.

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Sources in the Grand Alliance confirmed to The Federal that the decision to announce a customised manifesto targeting EBCs is a carefully strategised move to “set at ease apprehensions” that this segment has in switching its electoral allegiance from the ruling JD(U) of Nitish Kumar to the Opposition; Lalu Yadav’s RJD in particular. The launch of the EBC Nyay Sankalp, Grand Alliance leaders say, also has much to do with the Congress’s reluctance in announcing Lalu’s son and RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav as the chief ministerial face of the Grand Alliance – an issue that has triggered heady speculations in the media of a supposed rift between the Congress and the RJD.

Cong treads carefully on CM pick

The strategy has its motivation in the widely held notion that the EBCs, although once a solid voting bloc of the RJD, are now an unwavering vote bank of the JD(U). This is in part because of Nitish’s welfare schemes that have systematically benefitted EBCs, but also, in no small measure, due to the perceived excesses against them by backward caste Yadavs during the RJD’s long reign under both Lalu Yadav and his wife, Rabri Devi.

Sources in the Congress told The Federal that it is the perceived antipathy of the EBCs towards the RJD and their fear of a return of Yadav dominance in a government helmed by Tejashwi that is among the prime drivers for the Congress’s reluctance in endorsing the RJD leader as the Grand Alliance’s chief ministerial face post haste.

A senior Congress leader from Bihar dismissed the widely propagated theory that the Congress isn’t willing to endorse Tejashwi in order to exert pressure on the RJD to concede more seats to the Grand Old Party in the upcoming polls.

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No rift in alliance, says Congress

“Yes, we would like a seat-sharing agreement that is respectable and at the extended Congress Working Committee (CWC) meet Rahulji made it clear that no compromise will be made on this score but this is the stand all parties take before seat-sharing is finalised. This doesn’t mean that the alliance is unsteady,” the Congress leader, who is also a CWC member, said.

“Our larger concern is that Rahulji has invested a lot over the past few years to get the Dalits and now the EBCs to give Congress a fresh chance. In the past year alone, he has made half a dozen visits to Bihar, excluding his recent Voter Adhikar Yatra, and each time, his pitch has been social justice; securing rights of the backward classes and the Dalits,” the leader said.

The leader added, “there is a belief that EBCs are not entirely convinced yet that a government headed by Tejashwi will be as beneficial for them as one headed by Nitish and it is this impression that we are trying to break… during the Voter Adhikar Yatra, this was discussed at length with Tejashwi and he understood and appreciated what we were saying… the EBCs need a certain reassurance; they voted for the Mahagathbandhan in big numbers when Nitish was on our side because they saw that reassurance in Nitish, but then Nitish went back to the NDA and we were back to the same problem; now the Congress wants to be that reassuring force.”

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RJD trying to cross EBC hurdle

Sources in the RJD too agreed that winning over the EBCs has been a challenge for the party due to “legacy issues” and that the Congress’s top leadership had been “discussing ways with Tejashwi to cross this hurdle”.

“On our part, too, we have tried to take steps that will allay concerns of the EBCs. From 2015 onwards, the share of tickets we have given to EBC candidates has gone up steadily in Assembly and Lok Sabha polls, and in the upcoming election, this will go up further. In June, we became the first party ever in Bihar to appoint an EBC state chief (Mangani Ram Mandal, a Dhanuk by caste, is a former JD(U) MP who switched to the RJD in January this year). The EBC Nyay Sankalp also has several ideas that actually came from our side,” a senior RJD leader, known for his proximity to both Lalu and Tejashwi, told The Federal.

The move to launch the Grand Alliance’s EBC Nyay Sankalp with Rahul and Tejashwi both in attendance, along with another key ally, VIP chief and EBC leader Mukesh Sahani, was a “natural progression of this strategy to set at ease apprehensions of the EBCs,” said another Bihar Congress leader.

What manifesto promises EBCs?

The promises included in the EBC resolution are “historic”, said Bihar Congress chief and Dalit leader Rajesh Ram, as “they will mark a big step in undoing the decades of injustice that these communities have faced”. The resolution includes major policy and programme prescriptions, which both Rahul and Tejashwi underscored as important measures for social, political, and economic empowerment of the EBCs.

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Among the key proposals included in the EBC Nyay Resolution is the enactment of an EBC Atrocity Prevention Act, on the same lines as the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, increasing reservation for EBC in panchayats and municipal bodies in Bihar from the current 20 per cent to 30 per cent and declaring the concept of ‘Not Found Suitable’ (NFS) in the selection process for appointments as illegal.

The Opposition has also reiterated its promise to break the reservation ceiling of 50 per cent to allow affirmative action for backward classes, EBCs, tribals, Dalits, and Mahadalits to be fixed according to their proportion in the population. The short-lived Mahagathbandhan government had pushed a Bill in the Bihar Assembly to increase reservations to 65 per cent. However, its intended follow-up action of getting this law listed under the Constitution’s Ninth Schedule, which would prevent any judicial challenge to the enactment, was not followed through by Nitish when he switched back to the NDA fold. The EBC Nyay resolution reiterates the Grand Alliance’s push for breaking the 50 per cent reservation ceiling and ensuring that the enabling legislation is provided protection under the Ninth Schedule.

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Congress upbeat on 'headstart'

Additionally, the resolution promises to reserve 50 per cent of government contracts, with a value of up to Rs 25 crore, for EBCs, SCs, STs, and other backward castes. Also proposed is the setting up of a high-powered Reservation Regulatory Authority to oversee the implementation of all categories of reservations.

The Congress believes that by releasing the EBC Nyay Sankalp even before the Election Commission’s declaration of the Bihar poll schedule, the Grand Alliance has bought itself enough time to ensure that these promises are conveyed to the intended beneficiaries. More importantly, by getting Tejashwi to fully endorse the resolution, the Congress thinks the alliance’s trouble in winning over the EBCs due to the RJD’s chequered record vis-à-vis these caste groups will wane considerably, making it easier for the party to endorse the RJD leader for the chief minister’s post in the run-up to the election.