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Journalism of Courage
Bihar boasts of one of the most fascinating political histories in India. As the state heads to Assembly polls, The Indian Express brings a series of articles that tell the history of Bihar politics through the tenure of its 23 chief ministers. This article tells the story of Ram Sundar Das, Bihar’s 15th CM. You can click here to read about his predecessor, Jagannath Mishra. The next edition will focus on his successor, Chandrashekhar Singh.
The affirmative action policy introduced by Bihar Chief Minister Karpoori Thakur during his second tenure, from 1977 to 1979, proved to be his undoing. Announced in 1978, it reserved 26% of government jobs and educational seats for Other Backward Classes (OBCs), including a sub-quota for Most Backward Classes (MBCs). This was in addition to existing quotas for Scheduled Castes (SCs) and Scheduled Tribes (STs).
In a highly stratified society, with the upper castes largely holding political power, the social justice policy ignited fierce opposition. Several upper caste ministers resigned from the Cabinet in protest. The Thakur government’s decision came a year after a similar 15% OBC reservation was implemented in the neighbouring Uttar Pradesh by Chief Minister Ram Naresh Yadav.
Around this time, OBC quotas became a polarising political issue in many states. Pro- and anti-OBC reservation camps emerged, deepening divisions within the fragile conglomeration called the Janata Party, which had ousted Indira Gandhi’s Congress at the Centre following the Emergency. Bihar, under Karpoori Thakur’s Janata Party government, was no exception.
He faced relentless protests from within his party, the Cabinet, and the public. By April 1979, the attacks intensified — opponents claimed he had lost the mandate within the Janata Legislature Party (JLP). A parallel drama had unfolded in Uttar Pradesh two months earlier, when CM Yadav lost the Congress Legislature Party (CLP) leadership amid similar quota controversies and resigned. In Bihar, Thakur lost majority support in the JLP and was forced to step down on April 20, 1979, after less than two years in office.
Thakur’s successor was Ram Sundar Das, a Scheduled Caste leader, making him the second SC chief minister in Bihar’s history after Bhola Paswan Shastri (who held the post thrice, briefly). Thakur had been unyielding on reservations; as education minister in earlier governments and then as chief minister, he had consistently highlighted the abysmal representation of backward classes in public services.
Das, in contrast, was a moderate compromise figure. The primary contender against him was Satyendra Narain Sinha, son of the influential former Deputy Chief Minister Anugrah Narain Sinha. SN Sinha had joined the Janata Party after the Congress (O) faction merged with it. However, leaders rooted in the Praja Socialist Party (PSP), who were now part of the Janata Party, lobbied effectively for Das, securing his victory.
He took oath as the Chief Minister on April 21, 1979. His background underscored his grassroots credentials — born into a Dalit family in the Saran district, he had actively participated in the Quit India Movement of 1942. Das began his political journey with the Congress Socialist Party and later joined the PSP upon its formation in 1952. From 1968 to 1977, he served as a member of the Bihar Legislative Council. In the landmark post-Emergency 1977 state elections, he won the Sonpur seat on a Janata Party ticket.
Das’s ascension mirrored the Uttar Pradesh scenario, where Banarsi Das replaced Yadav as a stopgap leader. Both were installed to balance anti-reservation factions while keeping the coalition intact. In his book ‘The Jannayak Karpoori Thakur: Voice of the Voiceless’, The Indian Express journalist Santosh Singh noted that the Das government swiftly clarified Thakur’s reservation policy: the number of SC/ST, OBC, or MBC candidates selected on “merit” (without reservation benefits) would be considered part of the reserved quota.
This clarification was issued on July 10, 1979, amid anti-reservation protests. It diluted Thakur’s original intent and revealed a calculated strategy: Das, an SC leader, was positioned as a counterweight to Thakur’s OBC advocacy, framing it as an “SC versus OBC” fight to appease upper-caste sentiments.
However, by the time Das assumed office, the Janata Party was unravelling. The party’s veteran socialist leaders introduced a dual membership rule for members formerly in the Bharatiya Jana Sangh (the political arm of the RSS and the predecessor of the BJP). They were asked to renounce ties with the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh or exit the party.
Then there were the widening rifts between Prime Minister Morarji Desai and Home Minister Chaudhary Charan Singh. Charan Singh initially resigned as Home Minister and was later reinstated as Deputy Prime Minister, but he finally resigned from the Cabinet on July 1, 1979. These fissures accelerated the fragmentation. Charan Singh then split the Janata Party and formed Janata Party (Secular). Thakur, alienated by his ouster, joined this faction. The instability rippled through state units, weakening Janata governments everywhere.
The parallel debate on social justice policies mobilised the backward classes and provoked elite backlash, ultimately contributing to the Janata Party’s demise by 1980. After the fall of the Charan Singh government, Lok Sabha elections were held in late 1979. Indira Gandhi returned triumphantly and was sworn in on January 14, 1980. Under law-and-order pretexts, her government dismissed all non-Congress state regimes on February 17, 1980 — including Das’s, after a mere 10 months.
Das’s tenure ended abruptly, leaving little imprint beyond the dilution of reservation policy. He remained with Morarji Desai’s faction of the Janata Party, but later lost many elections. Immediately after his government’s dismissal, he lost his Sonpur Assembly seat to Janata Party (Secular) candidate Lalu Prasad, who was then a close associate of Thakur.
He won the seat in 1990, but vacated it upon his election to the Lok Sabha from Hajipur in 1991 on a Janata Dal ticket. He won Hajipur again in 2009 under Janata Dal (United), defeating veteran Dalit leader Ram Vilas Paswan. Das passed away in 2015 at 95, remembered as a veteran socialist leader who navigated Bihar’s turbulent caste politics during a fleeting era of non-Congress rule.
