Union home minister Amit Shah, on November 5, said at a public rally in Muzaffarpur district’s Patahi that the Bihar caste survey has shown an “inflated number of the Yadavs and Muslims.”
He added, “Nitish Kumar has done so under the pressure of Lalu Prasad Yadav to appease the Muslims and undermine the extremely backward classes.”
It is clear that the Bharatiya Janata Party leader who is regarded as number two only to Prime Minister Narendra Modi said this in an apparent bid to give a communal twist to the exercise. His goal could have also been to create confusion among the extremely backward classes or EBCs, who are largely understood to be sympathetic to the opposition now.
But Shah’s claim seems to be incorrect in the context of facts and data too. The caste survey report has put the EBCs at 36.1%. The Other Backward Classes are at 27.12%. Yadavs are a part of OBCs, and are 14.26%. Muslims are 17.7% of the population in Bihar.
The theory of ‘appeasement’ strikes as odd once you consider empirical analysis of the reality, which shows that the Hindutva party has subjected Muslims to significant neglect.
For instance, the BJP did not offer a single ticket to Muslims of the state in the 2019 Lok Sabha and 2020 assembly elections. It has few Muslims in its cadre structure from the top to bottom. Compared to this, the Rashtriya Janata Dal and Janata Dal (United) have had representation of minorities in the legislature and executive of the government, as well as in its cadre structure.
Reacting to Shah’s claims of ‘appeasement’, Bihar deputy chief minister Tejashwi Yadav, said, “If they [BJP] feel that the Bihar caste survey has inflated the number of the Yadavs and Muslims, they should conduct the Caste Census at the national level. Who is stopping them? Shah is trying to give a communal twist to the exercise that we have done to uplift the socially and economically backward sections of the society. His communal card won’t work whatever he does”.
A day after Shah alleged that the survey report has inflated the number of the Yadavs and Muslims at the cost of the EBCs, the JD(U) came out with a graphic on social media. It showed the Nitish Kumar government paying Rs 50,000 and Rs 1, 00,000 to the youths of the OBCs and EBCs as “encouragement amount” as they sit for the Bihar Public Service Commission and Union Public Service Commission examinations respectively.
The Nitish government also gave appointment letters to over 1.20 lakh teachers in adherence to its reservation policy for EBCs, OBCs, Scheduled Castes (STs), Scheduled Tribes (STs) and women.
Also read: Bihar Caste Survey Highlights Marginalised Micro-Communities; BJP Faces Electoral Dilemma
Religion
Apart from levelling the allegation of ‘appeasement’ against the Nitish government, Shah appealed to the people of Bihar to “join the nation” in participating in the aarti rituals at the pranprartishtha (infusing life) ceremony in the Ram temple of Ayodhya.
He also talked about Sanatan Dharma and the upcoming Chhath festival – the most popular festival of the state. Observers, however, interpreted Shah’s speech at Muzaffarpur more as an effort to rope in Bihar’s EBCs in the same manner as BJP has done in neighbouring Uttar Pradesh.
It is easy to see how the public reception to the caste survey report followed by the job event in the state on November 2 led BJP and Shah to amp up attention on Bihar. Shah took time off from the elections in five states and addressed a rally at Muzaffarpur and announced that he would address rallies in all the districts of the state in the next 13 months in the run up to the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.
He attacked the INDIA alliance describing it as the storehouse of family promotion and selfish elements. “While one leader is working to make his son a CM, another is dreaming to become PM. They won’t succeed and Narendra Modi will win again,” he said, referring to Lalu Prasad Yadav and Nitish Kumar.
Unease
Despite Amit Shah’s efforts the BJP does not seem to be making much headway in Bihar where INDIA alliance appears to be on its strongest wicket, thanks to Nitish and his deputy Tejashwi. But not all is well.
Speaking at a Communist Party of India (CPI) rally at Patna on November 2, Nitish said, “The Congress is too preoccupied with the assembly elections in five states and is not paying much attention towards the Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA)” indicating his unhappiness with the grand old party.
Nitish’s remark preceded the Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav attacking the Congress for not accommodating his party in Madhya Pradesh. The SP was said to have wanted the Congress to spare about six to seven seats for it in the MP. The JD(U) too has fielded 40 candidates in Madhya Pradesh. The party’s secretary general K.C. Tyagi said, “It is up to the Congress to accommodate us”. His statement indicated that the party too wanted its share in the seats in the state.
But the differences between the Congress which is the prime player against the BJP in Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Rajasthan and the regional parties are said to be rooted more in the desire of the regional parties to expand themselves beyond their states than the ideology and the larger goal to defeat the BJP in 2024.
“At the level of the issues and commitment to drive the BJP out, the Congress and other INDIA partners are on the same page. We will fight together against the Hindutva party on the issues of saving democracy and constitution,” the Bihar Congress president, Akhilesh Singh said.
Nalin Verma is a senior journalist, author, media educator and independent researcher in folklore.