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Composition of the class
Bihar has about 112 EBCs, also called the Most Backward Castes. In Bihar, they’re known as ‘Annexure-I,’ whereas OBCs are known as ‘Annexure-II.’ Annexure-I (the ‘extra backward’) consists of some 88 Hindu and Muslim castes, some well-known (for instance, Dhanuk, Hajjam, Kahar and Mallah castes), whereas others significantly much less so (Gulguha, Jadupatia and so on). Annexure-II (‘much less backward’) contains of 30 castes together with higher Backward castes such because the Kurmis, Koeris, Banias and Yadavs. According to political scientist Harry Blair, many of those communities, such because the Barhis, Kandus and Kumhars (in addition to some Muslim castes like Momins and Rayeens), had been tough to differentiate by way of social and financial backwardness from these in Annexure-I. However, the Bihar authorities’s gazetted ordinance in 1951, adopted by the primary Backward Classes Commission led by Kaka Saheb Kalelkar in 1955, helped to determine the 837 “most Backward” castes among the many whole 2,399 Backward Castes in India. In Bihar, the fee enumerated a complete of 127 Hindu and Muslim castes as backward castes, which now stand at 112, as per the caste survey performed in 2022. Out of the 112 caste teams, 24 castes, just like the Ansari or Momins, Rayeen, Shershahbadi, Rangrez, Dhobi, Idrish, Kasai, Nat, and Bhatiyara are Muslim EBCs, additionally known as Pasmanda Muslims.
Political mobilisation amongst EBCs
The politics of Bihar when seen via the prism of caste might be divided into a number of phases. The section of the Congress rule in Bihar was dominated by ahead caste alliances of Brahmin-Bhumihar-Rajput and Kayasthas for a very long time after independence. Although backward caste mobilisation had begun in Bihar through the flip of the twentieth century, via historic occasions just like the Triveni Sangh (forging a collaboration between the Kurmis, Koeris and Yadavs) and the Janeyu Andolan (a motion the place backward castes in Bihar started sporting the sacred thread to problem upper-caste domination), the proliferation of a number of caste associations amongst higher Backward castes additionally performed a distinguished position of their political consolidation. This section of political mobilisation of the backward castes reached a crescendo within the Nineties. From the Assembly elections of 1990 to 1995 and the Lok Sabha elections of 1991, the variety of backward caste legislators lastly outnumbered the variety of higher caste representatives, a pivotal change within the social background of politicians in Bihar, that has since by no means been overturned.
Former Chief Minister of Bihar, Karpoori Thakur, attributed because the initiator of a ‘Backward Raj’ by Harry Blair, has been credited by a number of observers for this social reconfiguration in Bihar. Along with the implementation of the Mungeri Lal Commission report (1976), which facilitated reservations for backward castes in larger training and State authorities jobs, Karpoori Thakur initiated two main coverage choices which altered the caste dynamics of Bihar’s political panorama. First amongst these was the elimination of English language as a compulsory topic for sophistication 10 examinations which enabled a lot of Hindi medium college students from backward castes to get entry to authorities jobs and different alternatives in larger training. Second was the choice to conduct native elections on the panchayat degree in 1978, which created alternatives for participation in democracy on the grassroots degree resulting in an eventual strategy of democratisation. Years later, in his makes an attempt to consolidate EBC assist for himself, Chief Minister of Bihar Nitish Kumar additionally facilitated such democratisation by implementing reservations for EBCs (of upto 20%) and ladies (upto 50%) in Panchayati Raj Institutions by promulgating the Bihar Panchayati Raj Amendment Act in 2006. According to a examine by Subhesh Kumar, Nitu Sharan and Srikant Pandey, these reservations allowed the election of just about 1,464 Mukhiyas, 18,901 Gram Panchayat Members, 1,464 Sarpanchs, and 18,900 panchas from the EBC class, permitting them to profit considerably from such grassroots degree participation in democracy.
However, on the State degree, EBCs continued to be marginalised in consultant electoral politics, as in comparison with higher backward OBCs, because the assertion of backward caste dominance has been led by the Yadavs, Kurmis, Koeri and Banias. As identified by Srikant and Prasanna Kumar Choudhary, between 1957 and 1962, EBCs had no illustration within the Bihar Legislative Assembly. Between 1967 and 1995, there have been 753 MLAs from Yadav, Kurmi, Koeri and Baniya castes (higher OBCS) whereas for a similar interval, the variety of EBC MLAs in Bihar was 55. Between 1990 and 2000, the variety of EBC MLAs in Bihar was between 6 to 16. In 2005, 19 EBC MLAs had been elected to the State Assembly, which fell to 17 in 2010. This quantity elevated as much as 29 in 2020; it was additionally the primary time when the share of EBC MLAs within the Bihar Assembly went above 10% of the whole MLAs. For a group with a 36% share within the State’s inhabitants, that is nonetheless an enormous underrepresentation.
Emergence of recent management
The heterogenous mixture of castes throughout the EBC class poses substantial challenges to political mobilisation. Among the EBCs, solely a handful of jatis like Teli, Dhanuk, Badhai, Kumhar (prajapati), Mallah, Nai, Noniya and Kahar (Chandravanshis) have a inhabitants between 1-3% of the whole inhabitants of Bihar, as per the 2022 caste survey. All the opposite castes throughout the EBC class have a inhabitants dimension of under 1%, which makes political mobilisation tough by way of numerical consolidation.
The instance of the Nishad group is an effective case of political mobilisation via numerical consolidation. The Nishad group was solid by bringing collectively round 22 castes among the many EBCs (such because the Mallah, Noniya and Bind, Kevat jatis), which introduced their mixed numbers to about 9.8% of the whole inhabitants of the State, in line with the 2022 caste survey. This makes them a major a part of the EBC cluster and highlights their political salience by way of electoral assist. However, whereas the Vikassheel Insaan Party (VIP), led by Mukesh Sahani, has emerged as a key political group representing the pursuits of the Nishad group, the management among the many Nishad has been scattered throughout a number of events just like the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Janata Dal (United) (JD(U)) and even Congress. Therefore, the viability of the Nishad group’s electoral affect among the many EBCs is but to materialise as a consolidated vote financial institution.
An in depth studying of the candidate nominations for 2025 by varied political events reveals us that EBC illustration among the many fielded candidates has elevated, particularly amongst regional events such because the JD(U), Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) and VIP. Both the Congress and the BJP lag behind by way of EBC illustration in distributing their social gathering tickets. In truth, a more in-depth look amongst candidate nominations means that among the many varied EBC castes, political events are inclined to nominate candidates largely from a couple of key communities just like the Dhanuk, Mallah, Noniya, Teli amongst Hindu EBCs, and Ansaris or Momins amongst Muslim EBCs.
Long solution to go
Whether it’s the appointment of Dhanik Lal Mandal as the primary EBC speaker of the Bihar Assembly in 1967, or the Rajya Sabha nomination for Pasmanda chief Ali Anwar, and even the appointment of Renu Devi as the primary EBC Deputy Chief Minister of Bihar in 2020, the lodging of EBC politicians by completely different events in Bihar has been largely symbolic with out a lot structural change within the political illustration of the group, which stays extremely marginalised.
Grassroots empowerment via illustration in native degree management positions is but to translate into seen materials transformations among the many group, which nonetheless stays entrapped in poverty and precarity.
Sarthak Bagchi teaches Political Science at Ahmedabad University and Ashutosh Kumar Pandey is an impartial journalist primarily based in Arah, Bihar.
