Bihar Assembly Election 2020: BJP banks on Mahadalits

Though the BJP has so far maintained that the disagreements between the NDA allies will be hammered out, there is a perception that HAM-S will compensate for the loss of Dalit votes, should LJP walk out of the NDA

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which does not subscribe to the demand for the sub-categorisation of the Scheduled Castes on several grounds including that there should be no further re-grouping, is all set to reap the benefits of overtures made by its National Democratic Alliance (NDA) ally Janata Dal United (JDU) towards a section of SCs known as the Mahadalits in election-bound Bihar.

While the opposition is likely to rake up the issue of the BJP not supporting the demand for sub-categorisation of SCs in the Supreme Court; the BJP is trying to downplay its stance on the grounds that a further re-grouping will not solve the problem. (AFP)

Mahadalits are considered a subcategory of Dalits in the state and, together with the Dalits, make up about 18% of the state’s population.

Hindustani Awam Morcha (Secular) (HAM-S) chief and former chief minister of Bihar Jitan Ram Manjhi, whose community is also part of the Mahadalit grouping, coming on board the NDA is also expected to benefit the coalition.

In 2007, Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar brought 20 most backward and deprived SC castes under one umbrella and christened it the Mahadalit category. He then set out to woo all of them by announcing schemes and programmes for their economic and social upliftment. He was instrumental in Manjhi being appointed as chief minister of the state.

“Chief minister Nitish Kumar was the first person to coin the term Mahadalit. He then set about ensuring their educational, economic and overall empowerment. When he took over as chief minister, the school dropout rate among the Mahadalits stood at 12% to 13%, which has now become much less because of his concerted efforts to ensure children are not only enrolled in schools, but stay in school as well. Tola Sevaks were appointed specifically for the task of taking children to school and ensuring they do not drop out,” said Sanjay Jha, a minister in the Bihar cabinet and a senior JDU leader.

Manjhi, who holds sway among the Mahadalits in south Bihar, has given the BJP and the NDA a shot at consolidating their votes among the Dalits—not considered a vote bank for the coalition partners (barring the Lok Janshakti Party).

Though the BJP has so far maintained that the disagreements between the NDA allies will be hammered out once discussions on seat sharing are formalised, there is a perception that Manjhi’s HAM-S will compensate for the loss of Dalit votes, should Ramvilas Paswan’s LJP walk out of the NDA. The LJP, which has a running feud with chief minister Nitish Kumar, has also aired its concerns about the seat sharing formula for the upcoming elections.

“The Dalit vote this time is for the NDA. The HAM-S is not a replacement for the LJP; it joining the NDA, however, is a bonus. We are hopeful that the LJP will be part of the NDA and both the parties together will strengthen the NDA,” said senior BJP leader Sanjay Paswan.

While the opposition is likely to rake up the issue of the BJP not supporting the demand for sub-categorisation of SCs in the Supreme Court; the BJP is trying to downplay its stance on the grounds that a further re-grouping will not solve the problem of the benefits of reservation not reaching all sections.

“I have personally been supporting re-grouping; I feel there has to be some way to ensure that if three generations benefit from reservation, the fourth should not have to rely on it. On an average, a person benefits from reservation about 7-8 times in their life,” said Paswan.

A second functionary from his party, however, said the introduction of a “creamy layer” will be counter-intuitive since the benefits of reservation are yet to percolate across castes.

The sub-division within the SCs has political ramifications for the BJP as well. The party, which takes pride in its social engineering model that seeks consolidation of castes instead of cleavages, fears that a sub-division could weaken its outreach towards castes that are traditionally not counted as its support groups.