Bihar 2025: Why parties are backing a large number of upper caste candidates in Mandal hub
For the first time since 1990, the BJP and Congress give forward caste candidates a leg up in a state; JD(U), too, increases its share
Bihar is an acknowledged hub of backward classes due to its high population percentage of Other Backward Classes (OBCs) and Extremely Backward Classes (EBCs), which together cobble up over 60% of the state's population.
This demographic reality has made caste-based politics, social movements for OBC solidarity, and government welfare schemes for these groups, a central feature of the state's history and present.
Yet, a close look at the distribution of tickets for the ongoing assembly elections in Bihar by major political parties in the state would suggest that upper caste candidates, practically marginalised since the advent of Mandal politics three decades ago, have staged a comeback of sorts.
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“Backward caste politics was revived during Lalu Yadav’s tenure, but the fact is that the state’s earliest leaders were not caste conscious. The point to note is that despite Mandal politics, caste preferences were always imposed from the top, never proven at the grassroots,” says political analyst Prabhat Singh.
Consider this. Virtually half of the BJP candidates — 49 out of the 101 tickets allotted to it under the NDA's formula for the 243 seats — come from upper castes. The party has nominated the highest number of candidates from the Rajput caste (21), followed by Bhumihar (16), Brahmin (11), and Kayasth (1).
However, to maintain the caste balance, BJP’s alliance partner Janata Dal (United) has nominated its highest number of candidates from the Backward Castes and EBCs.
But it's not that straightforward.
How Nitish Kumar's party shifted stance
The point to note, however, is that despite decline in the total seats of the JD(U) in the National Democratic Alliance (NDA), the party has nominated 22 candidates from the upper caste community out of the 101 seats it is contesting, which accounts for approximately 21.78% of its total candidates. This is an increase from the 2020 assembly election, in which upper caste candidates made up about 17.39% of the party's nominees.
This is a notable development given the party's historical reliance on the support base of EBCs, OBCs and Dalits. The move is seen as an attempt to broaden the party's appeal and consolidate a wider range of votes within the NDA.
A prominent example involves union minister and former JD(U) president Lalan Singh, an influential upper-caste Bhumihar leader, who has been actively campaigning for the party's candidate in the Mokama constituency, a seat historically associated with powerful upper-caste strongmen. This highlights a strategic push to secure this vote bank in key constituencies.
What about Mahagathbandhan?
The same applies to the Congress, which is attempting a comeback in the state, where it last ruled between 1984 to 1989. It has fielded 33 upper castes, of which Bhumihars are 11, Brahmins and Rajputs nine each, and Kayasthas four.
Congress’s senior partner in the Mahagathbandhan, the avowedly backward caste Rashtriya Janata Dal’s (RJD) list of 142 candidates includes 75 OBCs. But even here, the RJD has given tickets to 16 upper caste candidates, to keep a balance in place.
PK factor may be at play
NK Choudhary, analyst and former principal of Patna College, offers another view: "The RJD has broken into the middle-class vote bank, and the BJP or NDA is making amends by giving tickets to upper caste candidates. Plus, there is also the Prashant Kishor threat of taking away substantial high caste votes. These two factors are the triggers for such seat distribution. ‘’
Upper castes constitute 15% population of the state, while Muslims account for around 16.9% and Dalits 16%.
