Why can Lalu Prasad Yadav be happy with the Dalit card of Congress in Bihar? – Why Lalu Prasad Yadav will be happy with Congress Dalit Card after Bihar PCC Chief Rajesh Kumar Opns2

In Bihar, the Congress is in Delhi’s mode. The Congress wants it to stand on its feet in the state. From the last few elections, the Congress had become like a hanger of RJD. The party now wants to get out of this image. From the picture that is being made so far, it seems that the party can leave the grand alliance for this. However, no such signs have come from the big leaders of the party yet. But the way the Congress is playing the Dalit card card in Bihar, then RJD can be the reason for Lalu Prasad Yadav to be happy. Because if the Congress and RJD fight together or fight separately in the assembly elections, the Dalit card of the Congress is going to be beneficial for the RJD in both the situations. Let us understand this mathematics in Bihar as Dalit politics.

1-Dalit and NDA Vote

Today is the best position in NDA’s Dalit politics in Bihar. The population of the Dalit community in the state is around 19.65% (based on the 2011 census). It is obvious that he has a decisive role in state politics. Due to the LJP (Lok Janshakti Party) and HAM (Hindustani Awam Front) with the NDA, Dalit is in a strong position with the votes. If we talk about the 2020 Bihar assembly elections, then the most Dalit MLAs are with NDA. There are currently 38 Dalit MLAs in the Bihar Legislative Assembly, which is 16.04% of the total MLAs. Of these, 22 belong to NDA while 16 Grand Alliances (RJD, Congress and Left are of coalition. It shows that NDA was the most favorite party of Dalits till 2020 elections. In the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, NDA also won 30 out of 40 seats in Bihar, of which JDU won 12, BJP 12, LJP (Ram Vilas) won 5 and HAM) The presence of Dalit leaders like Jitan Ram Manjhi (HAM) provided a strong foundation in the Dalit community. Leaders like Jitan Ram Manjhi are not only popular in their community, but are also giving political representation to Dalits by getting a ministerial position in the central government.

2-fallen and Congress

The Dalit has been the traditional voters of the Congress. This is the reason that where there are no Dalit base parties like Bahujan Samaj Party, the natural party of Dalits becomes Congress. The way the Congress united its traditional votes by giving the slogan of the constitution is in danger in the Lok Sabha elections held last year, it can also work in the assembly elections this time. The way Rahul Gandhi calls for the interests of Dalit voters and to save the constitution, it will have some effect. Rahul Gandhi is constantly reaching Bihar to participate in programs related to Dalit leaders. Not only this, the Congress has once again placed bets on the Dalit president in the state. In 2015, as the president of Dalit leader Ashok Chaudhary, the Congress was successful in winning 27 seats. Now once again the Congress is in the hands of the Dalit leadership. Kutumba MLA Rajesh Ram has been made the president of Bihar Congress. Rajesh Kumar Ram’s father Dileshwar Ram has also been an MLA. Rajesh himself is an MLA from 2 times. When Bhakta Charan Das was in charge of Bihar Congress, he sent the name of Rajesh Ram for the president. But with the consent of Lalu Yadav, Akhilesh Singh became the president. Due to closeness with Lalu, the Congress has tried to get rid of Akhilesh Singh.

3-Dalit and RJD

RJD was founded in 1997 by Lalu Prasad Yadav. Since the beginning, the party has been identified as a party that advocates the interests of social justice, backward classes (OBCs), Dalits and Muslim communities. The traditional vote bank of RJD has been strong on Yadavs (an OBC caste) and Muslim communities, often called “M-Vai” (Muslim-Yaadava) alliances. However, its penetration among Dalit communities has not been as widespread as among OBCs or Muslim voters. This is the reason that a large part of Dalit voters in Bihar is historically being bowed towards parties like other parties, especially Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), Lok Janshakti Party (LJP) or Congress and later BJP.
In the 1990s, RJD (then as Janata Dal) led by Lalu Prasad Yadav launched a wave of social change in Bihar. During this time, the talk of empowering Dalits and the backward classes was raised loudly. Later Lalu Yadav’s focus went mainly towards strengthening Yadav and Muslim communities. Another trend has been seen with Dalit voters. The party with which the OBC domineering castes live with is not going to the vote of Dalits and the backward. For example, where Haryana Jat, Yadav in UP and Marathas in Maharashtra, Dalits have been refraining from voting for their votes. That is why RJD has been getting less support from Dalits than NDA.

4- RJD benefited from Congress’s Dalit card or not

We saw that Dalit voters in Bihar are going to be less to RJD than NDA. But the way the Congress is playing a Dalit card, it is going to benefit from it. Therefore, if the Congress remains in the Grand Alliance, then obviously RJD will also get the benefit. Similarly, if the Congress contests elections alone, then the Congress will also have a stake in the Dalit vote which was going to the NDA. That is, in the triangular battle, Dalit votes will be divided between the Congress and the BJP, then obviously the RJD will benefit. Because RJD’s penetration among Dalit voters is the weakest.