The Bihar government has released its caste count, which underscores the political importance of OBCs and marginalised communities as vote banks; it also undermines the electoral value of the general category, which comprises the so-called upper castes. The findings, in turn, have the portents to change the political narrative for the 2024 elections.
OBCs and EBCs 63%
The published data has revealed that OBCs and EBCs constitute a whopping 63 per cent of the state's total population of 13.07 crore, out of which the Extremely Backward Classes (36 per cent) were the largest social segment followed by the Other Backward Classes at 27.13 per cent.
The survey also states that Yadavs, the OBC group to which Deputy Chief Minister Tejashwi Yadav belongs, are the largest in terms of the population, accounting for 14.27 per cent of the total. Dalits, also known as the Scheduled Castes, account for 19.65 per cent of the total population in the state, which is also home to nearly 22 lakh (1.68 per cent) people belonging to the Scheduled Tribes.
Those belonging to the unreserved general category, which denotes the proverbial upper castes who dominated politics till the Mandal wave of 1990s, comprise 15.52 per cent of the population. The survey also establishes that the state's population is overwhelmingly Hindu, with the majority community comprising 81.99 per cent of the population, followed by Muslims (17.7 per cent).
Christians, Sikhs, Jains and those following other religions as also the non-believers have a miniscule presence, together making up for less than one per cent of the population. The caste survey is sure to open a Pandoras Box with OBCs demanding their proportionate share in various fields; the most upset will be the upper castes who are a small minority in the population. It is to be seen now how Chief Minister Nitish Kumar drums up these figures in the elections to instigate the OBCs, particularly when the Congress is also on his side in the matter.
Not caste census, but caste survey
For the record, it is not a caste census but a caste survey that was released in Patna on Tuesday afternoon; it is expected to impact the ensuing electoral battles in Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Telangana and Mizoram. The cascading effect may be felt in the general elections next year, where the caste census promised by the opposition alliance is likely to be a decisive issue. Since the Modi government insisted in the Supreme Court that the Centre alone can carry out the caste census, the Nitish Kumar government called it a survey.
Nonetheless, he has come up with findings which show that the lower castes are not getting benefits proportionate to their percentage in the population. The announcement of the caste survey data sparked sharp exchanges between the ruling coalition of Janata Dal United and Rashtriya Janata Dal, on the one hand, and the Opposition BJP, on the other.
"historic" or "eyewash"
While JD-U leader and Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and his ally and RJD patriarch Lalu Prasad termed the publication of the report as "historic", the leaders of the BJP dubbed it as "eyewash". Since the Congress leader Rahul Gandhi is supporting the caste issue in a big way, the BJP top leadership is bewildered and does not know how to counter the move. An indication of how the issue is going to impact the coming electoral contest can be gauged from the fact that PM Modi has been dwelling on caste in every public meeting.
Chief Minister Nitish Kumar said the publication of the report has coincided with Gandhi Jayanti and congratulated the survey team for its work. On what comes next, he said a meeting of the nine political parties in Bihar Assembly, who had unanimously voted in support of the survey, will be called soon, and they will be informed about the findings of the survey.
The BJP in Bihar was among the nine parties that had backed the caste survey. Former Chief Minister Lalu Yadav, too, welcomed the publication of the survey report and said the exercise was complete despite "BJP's conspiracies and legal hurdles". "These figures will set a benchmark for the country in giving representation to the deprived and oppressed sections and the poor as per their population and help frame policies for their development," he posted on X.
The central government, Lalu Prasad said, should ensure that sections of the society get a share in development as per their numbers. "We will get a caste Census done when we form the government in 2024," said the RJD leader, who is among the prominent faces in the Opposition's INDIA bloc that plans to take on the BJP in the general election next year. State BJP chief Samrat Choudhary said the party will study the report in detail and then share its opinion. He stressed that the BJP had firmly supported the survey.
