BTN: Poll test for Nitish caste politics

Poll test for Nitish caste politics

NALIN VERMA

Patna, March 12: Nitish Kumar is often compared with his Orissa counterpart Naveen Patnaik or other "more successful chief ministers" for his outlook and his style of governance. But, the fact remains that the Bihar chief minister has also carried out a social engineering, concomitant with the development-oriented activities of his government. Nitish's social engineering aims at organising castes and communities that have so far been either sidelined or ignored and that could translate into a sizeable vote bank when organised. The forthcoming Lok Sabha election is set to test Nitish's performance, as well as his so-called experiments with the Extremely Backward Classes (EBC) such as Mahadalits, along with Muslims. The first thing that Nitish Kumar did after taking over as the chief minister in November 2005 was to increase the women's quota in local bodies from a 33 per cent to 50 per cent. He also fixed a 20 per cent quota in the local bodies for EBCs and constituted a Mahadalit Commission. "The idea was to take the existing social order and caste combination in the caste-ruled politics of Bihar and create a new combination that was beneficial for all," said senior JD(U) leader. "The chief minister successfully created a sizeable support base for his party in Bihar." An analysis of the senior leader's remarks point to certain peculiarities in Bihar caste politics — the Dalits are not as organised in Bihar as they are in UP. A section of Dalits (Paswan) are supporting Ram Vilas Paswan's LJP, while another section (Chamar) are with the BSP. Lalu Prasad's RJD, too, enjoys some Dalit support. The JD(U) also enjoys the support of Dalits, particularly in central Bihar, while CPI(ML), too, has a good number of Dalits in its cadre. But, Nitish Kumar created a Mahadalit Commission aimed at uplifting the lifestyle of Dalits other than Chamars and Paswans. Those who were selected by the government for "free homes, education, drinking water" were labelled as Mahadalits — comprising 35 per cent of the total Dalit population in the state. Now the JD(U) can look forward to the whole-hearted support of Mahadalits in the coming polls. Similarly, by ensuring 20 per cent reservation to the EBCs — backward castes with less clout than the dominant Yadavs and Kurmis — the chief minister has made a calculated bid to organise a big group of backward classes in his favour. He has also created a new vote bank comprising women — so far not reckoned as a force. Apart from the new combinations, Nitish has gone the whole hog in doling out largess to the Muslims in a bid to neutralise Lalu Prasad's formidable Muslim-Yadav combination. However, observers believe that his efforts to exclude the Muslims from the Lalu- led UPA combination, may not work particularly in the coming polls in which L.K. Advani is being fielded as NDA's prime ministerial nominee. Their (Muslim) support for Nitish Kumar may not translate into votes for the NDA as long as the Babri mosque and Gujarat riots are fresh in the minds of Indians.

http://www.telegraphindia.com/1090313/jsp/nation/story_10663198.jsp

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