Bochahan bypoll loss reveals BJP’s Bhumihar problem

The BJP’s Baby Kumari lost to RJD candidate Amar Paswan, son of former Bochahan VIP MLA Musafir Paswan whose death necessitated the bypoll. Paswan jumped ship from the VIP to join the RJD just before the elections.

The BJP’s loss in Bochahan is being attributed to a section of the Bhumihar voters – who make up the highest caste group in the seat – reportedly backing the RJD candidate instead of their expected choice, the BJP.

The BJP’s worry extends beyond the Bochahan election. Sources say there are at least five Bhumihar leaders across the state who feel “cornered” in the BJP and have been expressing their displeasure with the party.

They point to how Suresh Sharma, a former minister in the Nitish Kumar-led NDA government and a senior BJP Bhumihar leader from Muzaffarpur district, was not active during the recent Bochahan election. Bochahan falls in Muzaffarpur district. Sharma has been lying low since he lost the 2020 Assembly election from neighbouring Muzaffarpur seat to the Congress’s Bijendra Choudhary, and was reportedly not approached by senior party leaders for the Bochahan campaign.

I want to thank people of Bochahan for this colossal victory. People sitting in the govt are not worried about the people of Bihar. This is the biggest victory for any party in Bochahan. People have done the work of beating govt with a stick: RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav in Patna pic.twitter.com/KJuDA9Opmy

— ANI (@ANI) April 17, 2022

On the other hand, RJD leader Tejashwi Prasad Yadav, whose party worked to split the BJP’s core constituency, was seen sharing the dais with several Bhumihar youths during the Bochahan poll campaign. RJD national spokesperson Subodh Mehta said the party has been rigorously following its “A to Z” formula – a reference to the party being open to all caste and community groups in an attempt to expand its base.

Not just the RJD, even the BJP’s ally, the JD(U) – which has several top Bhumihar leaders in its ranks such as party national president Rajiv Ranjan Singh, Education Minister Vijay Kumar Choudhary and MLC and spokesperson Neeraj Kumar – has been working to cultivate Bhumihar voters.

Sachchidanand Rai, a prominent BJP Bhumihar leader from Saran, had turned rebel before the recent MLC polls and successfully contested as an Independent from Saran region. The JD (U) is reportedly trying to get Rai to join the party, much to the BJP’s discomfort.

Sources said some of the BJP Bhumihar leaders have been sulking about not being recognised by the party.

Ranjeet Nirguni, a Samastipur leader, was fielded by the BJP from Sarairanjan against senior JD(U) leader Vijay Kumar Choudhary in the 2015 Assembly elections. Though he lost, he remains an active leader in the constituency. Sources close to him point to how Nirguni has not been given any position in the party.

Sudhir Sharma, former Bihar BJP general secretary and a prominent Bhumihar leader from Jehananbad, too, has been lying low for a while and does not hold any post in the party now.

Sudhir Sharma along with Muzaffarpur leader Suresh Sharma had recently launched the Bhumihar Brahmin Samjik Ekta Front and hit out at Ujiyarpur MP and Union minister Nityanand Rai, accusing him of “working to shrink the space for upper-caste leaders”.

Bihar BJP president Dr Sanjay Jaiswal, however, told The Indian Express, “We have nothing to say about the RJD’s so-called social engineering or any particular caste group distancing themselves from us. We have several Bhumihar leaders with us, including Union minister Giriraj Singh, MP Vivek Thakur and MLC Devesh Kumar.”