Nitish on overdrive in Bihar to counter Modi appeal

As the latest mood of the nation surveys paint a grim picture of his party, the JD(U)’s electoral prospects in Bihar, chief minister Nitish Kumar has rushed to cover his flanks.

As the latest mood of the nation surveys paint a grim picture of his party, the JD(U)’s electoral prospects in Bihar, chief minister Nitish Kumar has rushed to cover his flanks.

He has gone on an overdrive to consolidate his hold on the extremely backward classes (EBCs), a grouping of about 100 castes that constitute over 27% of Bihar’s population.

Addressing a function held here on Friday to mark the birth anniversary of former Bihar chief minister and EBC icon Karpoori Thakur, Kumar demanded the implementation at the national level of the ‘Bihar formula’ of reservation.

He also told his audience that two of the three Rajya Sabha poll nominees selected by the JD(U) — subsequently identified as Karpoori’s son Ramnath Thakur and Shagufta Parveen, were from the EBC category.

The announcements and Kumar’s renewed thrust to woo the EBCs, acquired its immediate significance from BJP’s bid to project its prime ministerial nominee Narendra Modi as an EBC leader, who once served as a tea vendor.

The ‘Bihar reservation formula’, which has its genesis in one put in place by Karpoori, as chief minister, 1978, is significant in that it provides for separate categories of reservation for OBCs and EBCs, giving the latter a distinct identity of their own.

In the original scheme, the EBC quota was fixed as 12% to 8% of OBCs (other backward classes). After Jharkhand separated from Bihar in November 2000, the EBC quota in Bihar was raised to 18% and OBCs’ to 13%.

Nitish has argued to give EBCs a separate identity in job reservation at the national level, be it within the OBC pie or without it. This makes for power pitch with potential to pay dividends in states other than Bihar, as well.As the latest mood of the nation surveys paint a grim picture of his party, the JD(U)’s electoral prospects in Bihar, chief minister Nitish Kumar has rushed to cover his flanks.

He has gone on an overdrive to consolidate his hold on the extremely backward classes (EBCs), a grouping of about 100 castes that constitute over 27% of Bihar’s population.

Addressing a function held here on Friday to mark the birth anniversary of former Bihar chief minister and EBC icon Karpoori Thakur, Kumar demanded the implementation at the national level of the ‘Bihar formula’ of reservation.

He also told his audience that two of the three Rajya Sabha poll nominees selected by the JD(U) — subsequently identified as Karpoori’s son Ramnath Thakur and Shagufta Parveen, were from the EBC category.

The announcements and Kumar’s renewed thrust to woo the EBCs, acquired its immediate significance from BJP’s bid to project its prime ministerial nominee Narendra Modi as an EBC leader, who once served as a tea vendor.

The ‘Bihar reservation formula’, which has its genesis in one put in place by Karpoori, as chief minister, 1978, is significant in that it provides for separate categories of reservation for OBCs and EBCs, giving the latter a distinct identity of their own.

In the original scheme, the EBC quota was fixed as 12% to 8% of OBCs (other backward classes). After Jharkhand separated from Bihar in November 2000, the EBC quota in Bihar was raised to 18% and OBCs’ to 13%.

Nitish has argued to give EBCs a separate identity in job reservation at the national level, be it within the OBC pie or without it. This makes for power pitch with potential to pay dividends in states other than Bihar, as well.