By Soroor Ahmed, TwoCircles.net,
If after years of bloody feud in Bihar – mostly in Nalanda, Nawada and Sheikhpura districts – Bhumihars and Kurmis can join hands to emerge as dominant ruling combination for 7 ½ years (between November 24, 2005 and June 16, 2013), then why not the 81-year-old alliance of Yadavs, Kurmis and Koeris – floated in 1933 in the form of Triveni Sangh – come together again for political power?
Before the Janata Dal (United)–BJP government came to power in 2005 Bihar had witnessed several violent clashes between the upper caste Bhumihars and backward caste Kurmis, especially in the region close to Nalanda––the home district of Nitish Kumar.
Courtesy: Lokchetna.com
While the Bhumihars were led by Akhilesh Singh, a notorious strongman, Ashok Mahto, enjoyed the support of a large number of Kurmis and Koeris of these districts. Many people died during several large scale killings.
Yet after 2005 everything changed. Kurmi ko taj and Bhumihar ka raj (Crown to a Kurmi, Nitish Kumar (but) the rule of Bhumihars) became a common refrain in the corridors of power as this land-holding upper caste, for the first time after 1990, once again started playing a very crucial role in the state politics.
If the lure of power can bring the two warring, essentially agrarian, castes––Bhumihars and Kurmis––together, why can not the decades old alliance of Yadav-Koeri-Kurmi triumvirate be revived? After all, till 1994 it was a strong combination.
Ever since the formation of Triveni Sangh in 1933 by Sardar Jagdeo Singh Yadav, Chaudhari Yadunandan Prasad Mehta and Dr Shivpujan Singh––a Yadav, a Koeri and a Kurmi respectively––the three castes had become natural allies against the upper castes.
True Yadavs had felt victimized during the Nitish regime, yet once they get inkling that an alliance with Kurmis––as well as some Koeris too––will help them stage a comeback, they would not hesitate in joining hands. Kurmis too need a partner after this late surge in BJP’s popularity.
The Koeris may be somewhat divided between Union minister of state for rural development Upendra Kushwaha of Rashtriya Lok Samata Party and the ruling Janata Dal (United). The Koeri-Kurmi relationship in Bihar is akin to that of Luv-Kush.
Triveni Sangh castes
Be it the socialist movement in Bihar or the agitation for implementation of the Mungeri Lal and Mandal Commissions in late 1970s and early 1990s respectively, it were leaders and members of these three castes – Yadav, Koeri and Kurmi – who were in the forefront to fight against the upper castes. The upper castes were opposed to the reservation both in the state and at the national level. In fact, Yadavs and Koeris have palpable presence in the ultra Left movements too.
It was essentially a personal clash between ‘Bade Bhai’ (Lalu) and ‘Chote Bhai’ (Nitish), which created a division between them in 1994. Lalu was a strong chief minister then, while Nitish was nowhere near power after the collapse of the V P Singh government in 1990 at the Centre––he was a minister in it.
Two decades later, both are facing a common challenge. After being at the pinnacle of their political career, today both need each other. So they have fallen back on the same old caste formula. True, they may not succeed in whipping up a pro-Mandal like passion of the early 1990s yet the attraction of retaining the political foothold in the state may help them re-unite strongly.
During Lok Sabha election, many might have voted for the BJP, but at the state level they may opt for the new grand alliance of Janata Dal (United), Rashtriya Janata Dal and the Congress. Bihar has a history of voting differently in Lok Sabha and Assembly elections.
In the post-Kargil election held in 1999, the then Vajpayee-led NDA won 41 out of 54 Lok Sabha seats of the then undivided Bihar. Even Lalu Prasad Yadav lost in Madhepura to Sharad Yadav by 32,000-odd votes.
But after the assembly election held five months later in February 2000, the RJD managed to form the government, albeit with the support of the Congress. The Janata Dal (Unitd)-BJP alliance failed to win confidence vote on the floor of the Bihar Assembly even though the state governor invited its leader Nitish Kumar to form the government. It fell within a week (March 3 to 10, 2000).
Similarly, in 2004 the RJD-LJP-Congress combine won 29 out of 40 seats leaving just 11 for the NDA, which was voted out of power at the Centre. But, in the two Assembly elections held in 2005, the RJD performed badly as the alliance went haywire. The first election held in February 2005 threw up a hung assembly and in the second, which took place in October-November same year, Nitish Kumar-led NDA won a decisive victory.
However, the NDA managed to do extremely well in both the 2009 Lok Sabha and 2010 Assembly elections because it contested unitedly while the RJD, Congress and LJP, like in 2005, remained disintegrated.
It has been observed in the recent past that, whenever the non-BJP parties form an alliance they perform better. Apart from the sewing up of new grand political alliance it is the social arithmetic––the coming together of the three most influential backward castes––which is likely to pose a big challenge to the saffron party. The victory in six out of 10 assembly seats––which went to by-poll on August 21––by the grand alliance is being interpreted in this light.
Rivals are a bit alarmed not only because the result has proved that the idea of these intermediate castes joining hands has clicked, but also because it has come as a morale booster to the defeated and demoralized Lalu and Nitish.
The newfound confidence might just help them consolidate their positions further before the next year’s assembly election.
On the other hand, the BJP too has a backward caste leader, Sushil Kumar Modi, whom it can project as the chief ministerial candidate. Though there is stiff opposition to his name, many in party feel just like Narendra Modi (who too initially faced stiff opposition as prime ministerial candidate), Bihar’s Modi would be able to overcome the challenge from within.
Coming from the trading caste, he may not have a numerically sound position to take on the Yadav-Koeri-Kurmi combine, which forms over 20 per cent votes. The grand alliance is pinning its hope on Muslims, Extremely Backward Castes and Mahadalits as well. But the BJP has in its rank a Dalit and a Koeri leader, Ram Vilas Paswan and Upendra Kushwaha respectively––not to mention of a natural ally, the upper castes––to make the fight equally poised and interesting.
(Soroor Ahmed is a Patna-based freelance journalist writing on political, social, national and international issues)