Tejashwi Yadav’s age is declining
The relatively low turnout in Bihar during the first phase of elections on April 19 may not be entirely due to the scorching heat and wedding season.
Compared to 2019, enthusiasm towards Brand Modi has reduced. Observers say there is a clear wariness even among BJP allies, which has kept traditional NDA supporters (read: upper caste voters) away from polling booths.
The less cordial relations between BJP and Nitish Kumar on the one hand and Nitish Kumar and Chirag Paswan on the other are open secrets. There is uneasiness within JDU also, because a large number of loyalists are preparing to sacrifice their lives for Nitish Kumar.
The first phase of voting also drew attention to the astute efforts of Bihar politics’ rising star Tejashwi Yadav to expand the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD)’s social base beyond Muslims and Yadavs. For one thing, a conscious effort to bring the Kushwaha, an important intermediate caste, to the right side was started during the assembly elections in 2020 and has become more pronounced since then.
The Kushwahas, numerically significant in the state, were at one time aggressively anti-Brahmin. Under the leadership of late Jagdev Prasad, the Kushwahas were at the forefront of the movement to burn the sacred thread, the sacred thread.
A section of the community still does not invite Brahmins to preside over rituals like marriage, as the exchange of garlands between the bride and groom is enough to make the union successful. While the RJD has fielded five Kushwaha candidates in the 22 constituencies it is contesting, other Indian allies – Congress, CPI (ML) and Mukesh Sahni’s Vikassheel Insaan Party – have fielded Kushwaha leaders from three other constituencies. Has landed in.
The population of Kushwahas is only 3 percent; But in a bold move, the RJD – known as the party of Yadavs in the mainstream media – gave them nearly 25 per cent of its 22 allotted seats.
CPI (ML), the state’s most aggressive and organized Left party, also fielded Kushwah candidate Raja Ram Singh from Karakat constituency against former Union Minister Upendra Kushwah, who considers himself the foremost leader of the community along with the state BJP. Are. Chief Samrat Chaudhary.
The RJD also fielded a Kushwaha candidate in Aurangabad, the traditional bastion of Rajputs, where voting took place in the second phase on April 26. Sitting MP Sushil Singh has already been elected from here thrice – twice as a BJP candidate and once as a JDU candidate. In fact, this constituency has never elected a non-Rajput candidate before, but this election may surprise us.