Despite Bihar caste survey, BJP a strong contender

New Delhi: Despite the publications of the Bihar government's caste survey report to spark the the "Mandal Vs Kamandal" narrative by the opposition camp in Bihar, BJP continues to remain a strong contender for the votes of backward castes in the caste-ridden state.

Following its successful show in Bihar in 2014 Lok Sabha polls, BJP has been especially focused to emerge as a strong player in the politics of backward castes in the state.

With its continuous efforts to accommodate a good number of the most backward class (MBC) faces in the party's organizational structure from the booth level to the state level, the party has undergone a complete transformation in the last one decade and the party's support base is not confined only to the upper caste votes in the state.

BJP's Bihar unit now has several faces from the other backward castes (OBC), and they also held important positions in the party organization. While the party appointed Samrat Choudhari, a prominent OBC face, as its state unit chief, it has given the post of leader of opposition in the state legislative council to Hari Sahni. Sahni is from and MBC caste, Nishad.

Present state president Samrat Choudhari had replaced Sanjay Jaiswal who also is an OBC.

More than a year back, the party had selected Shambhu Sharan Patel, a new face from the OBC Dhanuk caste, for sending him to the Rajya Sabha from the state in place of Gopal Narayan Singh.

"After the 2014 LS polls, the party's Bihar unit started giving special focus to look for OBC faces to promote them in the party organization. The party was successful in sending out a positive message among the OBCs following its decision to select two OBC faces- Tarkishore Prasad and Renu Devi- to become Deputy CM from the BJP quota in the November 2020, when CM Nitish was in NDA," recalled a senior BJP leader in Bihar. He added the party has already prominent faces like former Deputy CM Sushil Kumar Modi, former ministers- Nand Kishore Yadav and Prem Kumar from the OBC. At the ground level, the party has its organisations like Panna Pramukh, Booth Committee, Shakti Kendra (Panchayat level organization), Mandal Committee (Block level organization) and District Committee.