New Delhi: The posthumous awarding of the Bharat Ratna to two-time Bihar chief minister and Extraordinarily Backward Castes (EBC) icon Karpoori Thakur is being seen as one other well-scripted technique of the Modi authorities to doubtlessly weaken INDIA alliance politics of caste census and reservation forward of the Lok Sabha polls.
Already going all out with its Ram temple push, the BJP is aiming to solidify its grip on ‘mandal (social justice) and kamandal (Hindutva)’ politics — by leveraging the Ram temple to safe the core Hindu vote financial institution whereas utilizing its resolution to award the Bharat Ratna to Thakur to push its social empowerment narrative and safe EBC votes.
The BJP’s messaging was evident significantly when Prime Minister Narendra Modi penned a tribute for ‘Jan Nayak’ Thakur, which was carried by practically each information publication Wednesday, and known as the late chief’s son to congratulate him.
The occasion is hoping that the awarding of the Bharat Ratna — which comes at a time when Bihar celebrates the EBC icon’s delivery centenary — may even have ramifications on all northern states’ politics. However the BJP’s predominant focus is the tough electoral contest in Bihar after current CM Nitish Kumar’s swap in 2022. Nitish’s Janata Dal (United) counts EBCs and Mahadalits — two of essentially the most socially backward teams within the state — amongst its core vote financial institution.
A caste survey performed final yr by Nitish’s Mahagathbandhan authorities that features Lalu Prasad Yadav’s Rashtriya Janata Dal and the Congress discovered that EBCs kind the best caste group within the state at 36.1 p.c. That is adopted by the Different Backward Courses — together with Yadavs, the RJD’s core vote financial institution — at 27.12 p.c, the Scheduled Castes, together with Dalits, at 19.65 p.c, and Muslims at 17.7 p.c.
Bihar has 40 parliamentary seats within the seventeenth and the present Lok Sabha, of which the BJP gained 17 in 2019. The BJP has reportedly set a goal to win 35 of those seats within the upcoming basic election.
With its ‘mandal and kamandal’ technique, the BJP’s posing a direct problem to Nitish, who, by way of his years as a politician and chief minister, has modelled himself as an inheritor to the Karpoori model of politics.
On its half, Nitish’s JD(U), whereas welcoming the transfer as lengthy overdue, has mentioned it was years of campaigning by the Bihar CM that has led to the choice of India’s highest civilian award being conferred to Thakur.
“It was Nitish Kumar, who, as chief minister, divided backward castes into two groups — EBC and OBC — by reserving 18 percent and 12 percent reservation for them back in 2005,” Ramnath Thakur, son of Karpoori Thakur and a Rajya Sabha member from JD(U), instructed ThePrint.
He added: “Nitish further implemented a reservation in panchayats and gave 50 reservation to women in local bodies — both of which were Karpoori visions. He carried on the Karpoori legacy. It was Nitish Kumar who first demanded a Bharat Ratna for Karpoori.”
JD (U)’s Okay.C. Tyagi additionally holds comparable views: “It was Nitish who has practiced the Karpoori (brand of) politics from 1970 for the empowerment of backward castes. It’s a good decision for which JD (U) fought for several decades.”
The BJP, in the meantime, is unwilling to share credit score. Quickly after the central authorities made its resolution public, former Bihar deputy CM Sushil Kumar Modi, who was a detailed ally of the JD (U) till 2022 when Nitish determined to dump the NDA and reunite with the mahagathbandhan, mentioned it was the prime minister, an OBC chief, who’s “fulfilling Karpoori’s legacy”.
“As cabinet ministers, neither Lalu Prasad Yadav nor Nitish Kumar could confer the Bharat Ratna on Karpoori. But it was the son of a backward class leader who did this historic task. No prime minister has ever done so much work to empower the EBCs,” he instructed the media.
Additionally Learn: Was Nitish upset with alliance title ‘INDIA’? Bihar CM’s hasty exit after Oppn meet sparks murmurs
Karpoori Thakur’s legacy and Nitish Kumar
A pacesetter from the EBC ‘nai’ or barber caste, Thakur served because the chief minister of Bihar twice — from December 1970 to June 1971 (a pacesetter of Samyukta Socialist Celebration) after which once more from December 1977 to April 1979 (as a pacesetter of the erstwhile Janata Celebration). After making his election debut in 1953, he remained a legislator till his final meeting election in 1985.
Thakur has an extended historical past of affiliation with social justice actions and has usually been reckoned among the many state’s most influential socialist leaders, together with the likes of Ram Manohar Lohia and Jayaprakash Narayan.
In 1978, a yr after he grew to become CM for the second time, Thakur applied a layered reservation — unprecedented at the moment. In line with this coverage — known as the ‘Karpoori formula’ — the entire reservation within the state was set at 26 p.c: 12 p.c for EBCs, 8 p.c for OBCs, 3 p.c for girls, and three p.c for economically backward higher castes.
By this, Karpoori can also be believed to have set the tone for the Mandal politics — in 1990, two years after the socialist chief’s dying, then PM V.P. Singh applied the Mandal Fee Report and launched 27 p.c OBC reservation to counteract the rising Ram temple motion.
For years, Nitish Kumar seems to have modelled his politics after Karpoori Thakur, with JD (U) even drawing parallels between the 2 leaders.
In 2009, Nitish Kumar created the Mahadalit class in an try to carve a vote financial institution out of a base seen as a robust supporter of Ram Vilas Paswan’s Lok Janshakti Celebration (LJP).
In November — a month after the Bihar caste survey was made public — the Nitish Kumar authorities proposed rising reservation within the state from 50 to 65 p.c. The 2 legal guidelines, which had been handed within the Bihar Meeting the identical month, make an upward revision of OBC and EBC quota to 43 p.c from 30 p.c, SCs to twenty p.c from 16 p.c, and STs to 2 p.c from 1 p.c.
Nitish Kumar’s biographer and writer of the ebook ‘Nitish Kumar: Antrang Doston Ki Nazar Se’ Uday Kant instructed ThePrint that the caste survey that the Bihar authorities performed was an “unfulfilled desire of Karpoori Thakur”.
“Even during his days as union minister (Nitish was railways minister under Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s NDA government), Nitish would constantly discuss the importance of conducting a caste survey,” he mentioned. “It was Nitish, who, during his chief ministership, implemented Karpoori’s vision.”.
Bid to interrupt Nitish vote financial institution
The NDA authorities’s resolution to accord Karpoori Thakur a Bharat Ratna is important— with the JD (U) now a part of the opposition INDIA bloc, the BJP in Bihar is trying to weaken the EBC vote financial institution of the Nitish Kumar alliance, BJP sources mentioned.
The BJP has already made a number of strikes to seize the state’s EBC-OBC votes. Not solely did it appoint Kushwaha chief Samrat Choudhary as its state chief to seize the ‘Luv-Kush’, or the Kurmi-Kushwaha vote financial institution, which types the spine of JD(U)’s voter base, it additionally made outstanding EBC chief Hari Manjhi its state council chief. Its appointment of EBC chief Renu Devi because the state’s deputy CM in 2020, when it nonetheless counted JD(U) as its ally, was additionally nicely acquired.
Days earlier than the choice was introduced, the Nitish authorities and BJP engaged in a confrontation over an occasion to mark the socialist chief’s centenary celebration, with the latter even threatening to carry its occasion to mark Thakur’s centenary celebrations exterior the JD(U)’s and the RJD’s places of work within the state after it was reportedly denied permission to carry the occasion.
The BJP continues to undertaking itself as a champion of the EBCs. “Don’t forget. It was Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s effort that led V.P. Singh government to posthumously give B.R. Ambedkar a Bharat Ratna,” a senior BJP chief instructed ThePrint. “The Congress did not do it for 50 years. Now it’s the Modi government that is conferring Bharat Ratna to socialist icon Karpoori Thakur. Other parties have not made such efforts during their time. It’s crystal clear how the Modi government is working toward the empowerment of backward castes.”
Nonetheless, a senior BJP chief from Bihar who didn’t wish to be named admitted this was the occasion’s means of countering the Nitish authorities’s caste survey.
“The BJP social justice card has opened a new chapter in Bihar, a state where Nitish has dominated politics for three decades now. But it will have an impact in Uttar Pradesh, where the mandal politics has own significance.”
Mohammed Sajjad, a professor of historical past on the Aligarh Muslim College who has written extensively on Karpoori Thakur, believes that the BJP, by “appropriating” Thakur’s legacy, is getting a grip on each Mandal and Kamandal (Hindutva) politics earlier than the overall election.
“Karpoori Thakur’s social justice and identity politics for EBCs fits into the strategy of the ruling party. This way, the BJP has both Karpoori and ‘Kamandal’ politics in its hands before the election,” he mentioned.
(Edited by Uttara Ramaswamy)
Additionally Learn: ‘Stupid of me to make him CM’ — Nitish launches into tirade towards Manjhi in Bihar Meeting
