With the coming merger of Janata Parivar factions guaranteed to ensure a great degree of consolidation of Other Backward Classes, Mahadalits and minorities, the Nitish Kumar government is working on ways to lure away the Bharatiya Janata Party’s core vote base of upper castes.
According to a senior official in the Bihar government, a scholarship programme for economically backward students belonging to upper castes may be announced by this month’s end. The government already provides scholarships to Dalit and OBC students up to middle school.
The criteria for extending the new scholarships are being worked out by the Bihar Upper Caste Commission, which is likely to submit a report in a week or so, said the official.
Getting everyone on board
Nitish Kumar had constituted the BUCC soon after winning the last Assembly elections in 2010, but the panel was mostly dormant all these years. It has started working at an unusual pace after Nitish Kumar replaced Jitan Ram Manjhi as Bihar chief minister a few weeks back.
Besides the scholarship scheme, there are other moves afoot to attract upper castes.
Leaders from the upper castes are likely to get key positions in the new outfit that will emerge from the merger of the Samajwadi Party, Janata Dal (United), Rashtriya Janata Dal, Janata Dal (Secular), Indian National Lok Dal and Samajwadi Janata Party.
“It won’t just be a party of OBCs and minorities,” said RJD spokesperson Manoj Jha. “It will be a new party with representation from every segment of society.”
The heat is on
According to sources, Nitish Kumar and RJD leader Lalu Prasad have already agreed to ensure adequate representation of upper caste party leaders while distributing tickets for the Assembly elections due in October-November this year.
Whether these measures would help the new Janata formation crack the BJP’s core vote base remains to be seen, but even partial success in this regard would amount to a major setback for the saffron party, which is likely to kick-start its election campaign with a rally of party workers in Patna’s Gandhi Maidan on Tuesday.
Bihar’s four upper castes – Brahmins, Thakurs, Bhumihars and Kayasthas – account for nearly 15% of the state’s population and reportedly voted en masse for the BJP in last year’s Lok Sabha elections. It was their support, along with the backing of a section of OBCs and Dalits, that resulted in the BJP-led alliance winning 31 out of the 40 Lok Sabha seats in the state.
Political observers feel the BJP cannot take the support of OBCs for granted in the Assembly elections with a united outfit of Janata factions taking shape. However, it still enjoys the allegiance of a section of Dalits – particularly the Paswans, the sole Scheduled Caste that has been kept out of the Mahadalit segment in the state – as well as most of the upper castes in Bihar.
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According to a senior official in the Bihar government, a scholarship programme for economically backward students belonging to upper castes may be announced by this month’s end. The government already provides scholarships to Dalit and OBC students up to middle school.
The criteria for extending the new scholarships are being worked out by the Bihar Upper Caste Commission, which is likely to submit a report in a week or so, said the official.
Getting everyone on board
Nitish Kumar had constituted the BUCC soon after winning the last Assembly elections in 2010, but the panel was mostly dormant all these years. It has started working at an unusual pace after Nitish Kumar replaced Jitan Ram Manjhi as Bihar chief minister a few weeks back.
Besides the scholarship scheme, there are other moves afoot to attract upper castes.
Leaders from the upper castes are likely to get key positions in the new outfit that will emerge from the merger of the Samajwadi Party, Janata Dal (United), Rashtriya Janata Dal, Janata Dal (Secular), Indian National Lok Dal and Samajwadi Janata Party.
“It won’t just be a party of OBCs and minorities,” said RJD spokesperson Manoj Jha. “It will be a new party with representation from every segment of society.”
The heat is on
According to sources, Nitish Kumar and RJD leader Lalu Prasad have already agreed to ensure adequate representation of upper caste party leaders while distributing tickets for the Assembly elections due in October-November this year.
Whether these measures would help the new Janata formation crack the BJP’s core vote base remains to be seen, but even partial success in this regard would amount to a major setback for the saffron party, which is likely to kick-start its election campaign with a rally of party workers in Patna’s Gandhi Maidan on Tuesday.
Bihar’s four upper castes – Brahmins, Thakurs, Bhumihars and Kayasthas – account for nearly 15% of the state’s population and reportedly voted en masse for the BJP in last year’s Lok Sabha elections. It was their support, along with the backing of a section of OBCs and Dalits, that resulted in the BJP-led alliance winning 31 out of the 40 Lok Sabha seats in the state.
Political observers feel the BJP cannot take the support of OBCs for granted in the Assembly elections with a united outfit of Janata factions taking shape. However, it still enjoys the allegiance of a section of Dalits – particularly the Paswans, the sole Scheduled Caste that has been kept out of the Mahadalit segment in the state – as well as most of the upper castes in Bihar.