Nitish Kumar and Dalit politics: ‘Dalit Eclipse’ on Nitish’s ‘Mission Anti Modi’, what EXCUSE will Bihar CM give in the meeting of opposition unity

Nitish Kumar and Dalit politics: Dalit eclipse is visible on Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar. Earlier Chirag Paswan was in opposition, two days ago Jitan Ram Manjhi

Written by Ramakant Chandan

Patna: The politics of Chief Minister Nitish Kumar is not going well. These days Dalit eclipse is visible on his politics. When one Chirag Paswan stood against him, Janata Dal U (JDU) became the third party from the largest party. Now Jitan Ram Ram Manjhi of Hindustani Awam Morcha (WE) and Bahujan Samaj President Mayawati have also increased Nitish Kumar’s disquiet by saying that BSP will field candidates for all 40 Lok Sabha seats in Bihar against the Grand Alliance. .

BSP in Bihar

The election record of BSP in Bihar has not been very good. But politics is affected by the presence of their candidate. Especially in the areas which are adjacent to the border of Uttar Pradesh, the party has a good hold among the Dalits, especially Ravidas.

BSP and Bihar Lok Sabha

If BSP’s office in-charge Gautam Kharwar is to be believed, BSP has been fighting on 40 seats in many Lok Sabha elections continuously. His areas of influence are Sasaram, Boxer, Gopalganj, Bagaha, Balmikinagar, Kargahar and Karakat. Here their candidates have often influenced the victory and defeat. In the last Lok Sabha elections, Sunil Kushwaha contested from Buxar and influenced his victory here by getting more than 80 thousand votes.

In Sasaram Lok Sabha 2019 also, BSP candidate had a better performance. From here BSP candidate Manoj Ram came third. BJP MP Janak Ram had once contested from Gopalganj on a BSP ticket and secured good votes. This time too, the Bahujan Samaj Party has increased the pulse of the Grand Alliance by announcing that it will contest alone on 40 seats in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.

BSP and Bihar Legislative Assembly

BSP has a long history of entering the electoral battle of Bihar Legislative Assembly. In the assembly elections of 1990, BSP contested on 164 seats and got .73 percent votes. But did not get even a single seat. In 1995, BSP contested on 161 seats and won two seats and increased the vote percentage to 1.34 percent. In the 2000 Legislative Assembly elections, BSP contested on 249 seats and won 5 seats and got 1.89 percent votes.

In terms of vote percentage, both the assembly elections held in 2005 were the best for BSP. This is because in February 2005 the vote percentage of BSP was 4.4 and it also won two seats. In the October 2005 elections, the vote percentage was 4.17, but this time the victory was achieved in four assembly constituencies. Got 3.21 percent votes in 2010, 2.1 percent votes in 2015 but did not get a single seat. In the 2020 elections, the BSP won one seat and got only 1.5 percent of the vote. However, telling all this means that the BSP has the potential to win, but it can become the reason for the defeat of the Grand Alliance in many Lok Sabha constituencies.

Meaning of Mayawati, Manjhi and Chirag

If seen from the point of view of votes, generally 15 percent politics can be achieved by the mobilization of Mayawati, Manjhi and Chirag. Chirag Paswan does the politics of 7 percent votes. BSP got maximum 4 percent votes. Jitan Ram Manjhi also claims four per cent votes. That is, the politics of total 14 percent Dalit votes can make a difference in the politics of the Grand Alliance. If BSP, LJP and Hindustan Awam Morcha are seen on one platform, then they can be seen giving voice to a different politics.

Courtesy : Navbharat Times

Note: This news piece was originally published in navbharattimes.com and used purely for non-profit/non-commercial purposes exclusively for Human Rights