Bihar elections: The 'caste gates' that lead to the throne

It is a true saying that "a picture is worth a thousand words". Just like the pictures below, which depict the influence of caste factor in the society and Bihar assembly elections.

The caste factor had played a crucial role in the coronation of Nitish Kumar as Bihar Chief Minister in 2005. He received support from forward castes, non-Yadav backward class and Dalits. After Lalu and Rabri's rule, for the first time people of Bihar got the taste of development. It was Nitish Kumar's development mantra which reined into the traditional votebank of the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD). But Nitish set the example of brilliant social engineering by forming Extreme Backward Class Commission which, led to further division in the OBC category. Nitish then brought Dalit into his camp by dividing them too. He formed a new category called Mahadalit from Dalits.

With the help of social engineering and development work, Nitish and BJP retained power in 2010 Assembly elections, with the JDU-BJP alliance bagging more than two-third majority.

Despite that, Lalu Prasad Yadav managed to get 29 per cent vote share, suggesting that Muslims and Yadavs continuously lent their support to the RJD. After 2010 results, however, political pundits started murmuring that the influence of caste factor was gradually taking back seat in Bihar politics. The result of 2014 Lok Sabha elections further justified the claim. In Modi wave, even Yadavs came out in large numbers to vote the BJP. But after one and half years, the state politics has once again taken a u-turn. Despite NDA's development agenda, Lalu has given entire election a feel of forward vs backward.

But on the ground, caste indeed is a factor, but in a different way. For example, among Dalits, Paswans are in favour of NDA while Kurmis are in favour of Nitish Kumar. On the other hand, Kushwaha voters are voting for NDA due to Upendra Kushwaha. In one words, once again caste factor is ruling the roost in Bihar Assembly elections 2015. When News18 visited few villages in Hajipur district to assess the impact of caste, we discovered caste gates at the entrance of many villages.

We found three caste gates — Yaduwanshi Gate, Veer Kunwar Singh Gate and Nishad Gate — between Hajipur and Mahua. According to locals, there are more caste gates in the interiors of the region.

Our first stop was Yaduvanshi Gate. This falls under Mahua Assembly constituency where Lalu's son Tej Pratap is in fray. As soon as we entered Singh Sarai village, we came across some villagers discussing the pros and cons of ongoing elections. We met one Ramashrya Yadav and fired some question like why the gate was named after Yadavs and who made this and whether this village only belongs to Yadavs. He said, "Mukhiya (Village Head) built this gate. He has guts to make this. In this village Dushadh and Baniyas also live happily and they don't have any problem with this gate.

Voters in the region have varied views about the elections. They have decided to vote for either BJP's Ravindra Rai or independent Jageshwar Rai, as they feel that Lalu's son is immature and even can't even talk properly.

Little away from the Mahua village, News18 came across one Veer Kunwar Singh Gate in Bilandpur village under Rajapakar Assembly constituency. One of the villagers, Suraj Singh, said, "The gate was constructed many years ago. Yadavs also live in this village but majority are Rajputs. We will vote for Ram Vilas Paswan's LJP."

At a distance of further 2 km from the area is Nishad Gate, which has a clear message that the village belongs to Mallah caste, whose leader Mukesh Sahni was seen campaigning for the NDA. Majority in the area seem to be inclined in the favour of the NDA.

The name of entrance gate after a particular caste gives a clear message of dominance by that caste in the area. But this dominance has also significant impact on other castes' political trend and voting pattern. For example, Singh Sarai village's Dharmendra Paswan says, "Village will vote according to the society. Entire village will sit together and decide on the candidate to vote for in this election."