Bihar Churning

In the 2005 assembly polls, which spelt the end of the 15 year-long regime Lalu Prasad Yadav presided over, directly and by proxy in Bihar, the EBCs were seen to have played a crucial role in tilting the balance in Nitish Kumar8217;s favour.

Constituting an estimated 30 per cent of the state8217;s population, but divided and scattered into over a hundred sub-castes, these most backward groups among the Other Backward Classes OBC have long been a neglected lot 8212; socially, economically as well as politically.

Now though upper castes and a dominant section of the backward castes continue to maintain their sway over power politics in Bihar, the EBCs are slowly but surely making their political presence felt in the state. As the figures right illustrate, it has been an arduous trek so far.