Power Reset: Did An Upper-Caste Resurgence Fuel NDA’s Mandate In The 2025 Bihar Election Results?

In 1995, Lalu Yadav won the masses (and the Bihar election) with the battle cry of ‘Vikas nahin, samman chahiye’ (we want respect, not development). Though his win was one for the history books, the history of OBCs and Dalits fighting for respect and recognition predates RJD Supremo Lalu Prasad Yadav’s legacy. He was neither the first non-Savarna Chief Minister nor did he lead the first movements for OBC and Dalit emancipation. There was the Janeu Movement, Karpoori Thakur, RML and JP movements and many more. 

However, his win did change Bihar’s future; it was a direct challenge to the state's overall upper-caste dominance in politics. People sometimes alleged (incorrectly) that Lalu Yadav wants no upper-caste politicians to exist, though his various governments included people from various castes in various capacities. He did, however, ensure his cabinet was all about ‘backward’ representation, and his appointments made that evident – from police to political portfolios to universities and other government positions, most of which now had Yadav supervisors. 

But that was the peak of Lalu’s politics, and now, 30 years later, it is the peak of his party’s downfall, some say, and many are questioning: is this the return of upper-caste politics in Bihar? 

Dr Jagganath Mishra was the last Brahmin (upper caste) chief minister of Bihar who lost power in 1990. And ever since Yadav’s win in 1995, Bihar has had a Dalit/SC or OBC chief minister. Lalu Yadav and Rabri Devi are OBCs, Jitan Ram Manjhi belongs to the Scheduled Caste, and Nitish Kumar – the longest ruling among all – is from the Kurmi caste, which comes under OBC. Two of the biggest local parties – JD (U) and RJD –  are both OBC-led. The new Lok Janshakti Party, led by Chirag Paswan, is also Dalit/OBC-focused. So, what begets the question that this is the return of UC politics in Bihar? That is what we will try to understand here with the help of experts and residents of Bihar. 

To begin with, the ‘upper caste returns’ conversion was sparked by the NDA’s decision to give tickets to 32 Bhumihar candidates, closely followed by the Mahagathbandhan at 15, the highest for a single ‘upper caste’ allocation for either in the last couple of decades. 

Twenty-six of the 32 seats were won. 

There are four Rajput ministers, five Dalit, two Bhumihar, two Kurmi, while there are single ministers from Muslim, Mushar, Brahmin, and other communities. 

At the helm is a man loved by women voters and youth who love making memes about his allegiance: Nitish Kumar. He is a product of the JP movement. He calls himself a socialist. He loves to poke fun at his enemies and carries his verbal attacks with a smile. He is a near-saviour figure to many women who worship him for liquor prohibition in Bihar. He is also a Kurmi, an OBC; his cadre and cabinet are also largely composed of non-Savarna castes. And for a while, he was at the receiving end of ‘Upper Caste’ ire for being ‘too’ liberal with OBCs and giving ‘too many rights’. Not to mention, banning alcohol from the state. 

“Till there is Nitish Kumar, you cannot say ‘upper caste’ politics is back,” says Prasanna Choudhary, author and political expert from Bihar, adding that Kumar’s origins are deep-rooted in socialist movements. 

This harkens to the two branches of ‘social justice movements’ powered by two men with similar political origins – Lalu Yadav and Nitish Kumar, both of whom found their political roots during JP movement. While Yadav focused more on the caste social justice to uplift the minorities with direct and almost brute force, Kumar went adopted a more centre-socialist stance. To make up for the voters and supporters lost to Yadav’s social justice, Kumar’s social engineering focussed on bringing in women voters and sub-dividing the minorities. The EBCs and Mahadalit and women rallied behind Nitish Kumar. UCs, unsure for a while, also chose Kumar and NDA ultimately.

But should that time come, when Nitish Kumar is no longer the CM in Bihar for any reason, would the BJP then choose an Upper Caste CM? No, says a member associated with the Karni Sena on the condition of anonymity. 

“Bihar ka jatiya samikaran aisa hai ki abhi kya, 2030 ya 35 me bhi koi uppar jaati ka mukhyamantri nahin banega, BJP bewkoof thode hi hai. Nitish babu rahein ya nahin, CM koi Brahmin, Rajput nahin hoga,” (Bihar caste equation is such that there can never be an upper caste chief minister even till 2025. BJP is not stupid, they will follow the caste dynamics accordingly to retain power even after Nitish is gone.)

But all agree on one thing – there is a wave, weak as it may be, for the revival of upper caste ambitions in the state. 

Choudhary explains, “We can say upper caste politics is slightly back. See, Bihar’s landscape changed a lot in the 90s. The minorities, oppressed for decades, finally dared to dream. Lalu gave them that.” He adds how, in the last 35 years, Bihar has continued to change. The rigid lines which divided castes so starkly in the 90s are slightly more flexible now. Schools, offices, and political spaces, such as panchayats and cabinets, provided space for OBCs and Dalits to exist. This then gave birth to a new political class, a daring and ambitious middle-class Dalit or OBC.

This class carried the baggage of decades of oppression, of not being allowed to vote when the upper caste folks blatantly blocked their path to the polling booth or simply didn’t let them enter public spaces. Despite that, it dared to dream. It saw opportunity in politics, and grabbed it with both hands, either by participating actively or supporting parties and people, which created a space for their community.

“So we cannot say this is an absolute reversal of that Lalu-era politics and that upper caste hegemony of Pre-Karpoori Thakur Congress is back,” Choudhary says. However, it is important to note that this political power for the few does not translate into rights and opportunities for all minorities. 

Bihar comprises nearly 63 per cent EBCs and OBCs; Yadavs are the largest single caste group among them. For nearly four decades, Yadav's dominance seemed to be on the rise, but it is now dwindling. But would it be correct to say that upper caste politics is making a comeback?

Once again, the answer appears to be a resounding no. D M Diwakar, former director of AN Sinha Institute in Patna, who now runs the Development Research Institute, says the rise in Bhumihar tickets means little more than attempts to appease the upper caste.

“Caste sentiments had been against the BJP, to be honest. Few have always considered BJP to be a pro-upper caste party; they also saw Nitish as a socialist. The distribution of seats among castes was to break these images; see BJP loves all and Nitish is not anti-upper caste”, he explains. 

Just because both the NDA and the Mahagathbandhan tried to woo the upper caste votes, it doesn’t change the caste dynamics of the state, he adds, “They were successful in reversing the upper caste resentment that had built up for 35 years. UCs felt ‘oppressed’, at least politically, by the dominance of non-savarnas here. Even though reality is different. If you truly wanted to discuss the return of upper caste politics, I say, why not consider 2005 itself? But some always knew the truth. Remember the 2005 adage popular in the streets.”

That popular line was ‘Kurmi ko taj, Bhumihar ko raj’ (crown for the Kurmi, rule for the Bhumihar). Many political and caste experts understood this equation well. The win for Nitish Kumar was a signal to upper caste strongmen and local leaders; let the man remain the face of the state as long as we can abolish Yadav dominance from our regions. 

Despite the predominance of OBCs in political spheres, local power in land and money was equally represented (if not more) by UCs. Take Anant Singh, for instance. Diwakar asks, why would a party running on ‘sushashan’ (good governance) give tickets to Anant Singh if they were so pro-good morals or pro any caste? 

The answer comes back to money, caste, and power. Anant Singh, a Bhumihar bahubali, is too influential locally to be ignored. All NDA did was bet on a winning horse after all the other horses pulled out. The local Bhumihar population would not abandon him, no matter the optics.

“One win, one election data set, cannot change facts established for decades. Nitish identifies as a ‘samajwadi’. They will say Yadavs are declining, UCs are back. Lekin mukhiya kaun hai? Nitish hain aur rahenge.” (but who is the leader? It’s Nitish), says Srikant Yadav, a veteran journalist. “After Nitish, anything can happen. Maybe the ideological influence of NDA can have an impact. But symbolic changes take time, the legacy of the 90s and early 2000s social movements will remain for long.”

Even as ideology battles raged as alliances were forged, then broken, then unbroken and demolished and constructed again, Nitish didn't shift too radically in his position or shift away too far from his image. But this time, instead of post-win policies, it was his pre-polls ‘gifts’ that turned a large swathe of women voters towards the NDA.

“I wouldn’t say this is the return of upper caste politics, but rather the return of money-based politics. 10,000 to each woman. It is just a modified form of social engineering. Just like the girls who received the bicycles a decade ago, who are now voting age, this 10,000 will have a long-lasting effect,” says Diwakar. 

From Diwakar to Choudhary to the shy source in Karni Sena - all seem to agree on one thing. It is not the return of upper-caste politics in the state, but it has awakened long-dormant political ambitions among a certain section of the upper castes. The social justice movements didn't dampen the ground-level power of UCs, even as it almost erased them from political power at one point. The caste divides existed, so did the resentment for seeing 'backwards' flourish. 

"Wapas aye toh nahin, lekin sirf mukhya mantri sirf hone se nahin hota, humare ground me aake dekhiye. Pehle wala dabdabba nahin hai, bahut ati ho gaya tha un log ka," (being chief minister isn't everything, come to our area, they are not so dominant politically anymore, they had crossed all limits), Karni sena member on Yadav and OBC dominance in state's politics. 

Diwakar adds that Nitish has done nothing but reap the yield of social justice seeds sown by Lalu Yadav decades ago. “If it weren’t for Lalu’s social justice movement, Nitish would neither benefit from UCs nor from minorities. 

That movement awakened the minorities, and Nitish did his own permutations and social engineering and repeated the benefits ten times over.”

But all of this still doesn’t show that it is the return of upper-caste politics. Does having five to seven UC ministers in the cabinet, including a Bhumihar deputy CM, really reverse the decades of OBC dominance in the state?

That is a rather complicated question. In the 60s and 70s, when political power was consolidated in a few castes, parties had to do far less work to woo voters or turn the tide. Then social justice movements happened. RJD won. Now there were too many players in the field, and double the number of fans in the stands. The match organisers had to work double and triple to conjure up policies, slogans, promises, ‘revdi’, to set a winning field. Somehow, Nitish Kumar saw all those who came before him and tweaked his social engineering. He stands for women's empowerment above all, which automatically blurs the caste lines. Women, a minority within minorities, broke all voting records this time with 71.6 per cent voter turnout, the highest ever in the state. It was nearly eight per cent above men's voter turnout, which stood at 62 per cent. 

“It is the return of Nitish politics, not upper caste or Yadav politics. Whether it was his mahagatbandhan with the RJD or with the BJP, the majority was won by the side siding with Nitish Kumar,” says Choudhary.