Counting castes

The situation has also somewhat strained the relationship between the JD(U) and the BJP regarding the swapping of 10 seats. Both the parties had to drop three sitting MLAs each because of the delimitation. And with delimitation carving out an additional Bankipore seat in Patna town there’s a growing tension between the two partners. While the BJP holds all three Patna seats — Patna Sahib,Kumrar and Digha (all new names),it also eyes Bankipore because of the predominant Kayashtha,Bhumihar and Brahmin population. More importantly,the BJP wants the seat to accommodate Vivek Thakur,son of state BJP chief C P Thakur. But the JD(U) is adamant on getting at least one seat — Digha. But that will leave BJP Patna West (now Digha) MLA stranded.

A top BJP leader said,“It is beyond the state unit to resolve this deadlock. Our central leadership has to step in.”

Prestige of several veteran politicians is also at stake. Health Minister Nandkishore Yadav (BJP),who will contest from Patna,faces a tough time with depleting caste vote after delimitation. HRD Minister Harinarain Singh (JDU) is not comfortable as his old Chandi (Nalanda) seat has become Harnaut and he is facing a changed caste equation. Even though Nalanda is the home turf of Nitish Kumar,Singh cannot take his victory for granted. After great persuasion,sitting Chhapra MLA Rampravesh Rai has agreed to move to Barauli (Gopalganj) to concede Chhapra to influential Rajput leader and former minister Janardhan Singh Sigriwal. Sigriwal (BJP),on the other hand,feels stranded with his Jalalpur (Chhapra) seat becoming defunct.

Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Sushil Kumar Modi said: “Delimitation has posed great difficulty for us. Both Chandramohan and Sigriwal found it tough to make a choice. We had to find place for our veterans.”

BJP MLA Ramnarain Manjhi had to be shifted to Darauli (SC) after his Mairwa seat in Siwan ceased to exist. Though Manjhi got another reserved seat,he faces a tough resistance from Darauli where the Communists,particularly the CPM,enjoys influence.

Principal NDA opponent RJD has its share of delimitation woes too. State party chief Abdul Bari Siddiqui will contest from Alinagar (Darbhanga) instead of his usual Bahera seat,which is now non-existent. Siddiqui has a problem: depleting Muslim votes in Alinagar. Another RJD leader,Lalit Yadav,had to move to Darbhanga Rural after his Manigachi seat ceased to exist.

Delimitation has made LJP MLA Izhar Ahmed shift his party to get a ticket. After having lost Ghanshyampur seat to delimitation,the LJP found it difficult accommodating him. So he joined hands with Nitish and got the newly-carved Kauraboram seat in Darbhanga. LJP chief Paswan said: “We had given a clear message to some MLAs (including Ahmed) to look out of the party. We are not surprised at Ahmed leaving us,blame it on delimitation.” Another LJP MLA Achutanand Singh shifted to the BJP to get a ticket from a Hajipur seat.

Over a dozen sitting and former MLAs have changed parties because of delimitation. Mohammed Sahabuddin’s brother-in-law Izazul Haque could not be accommodated from a Siwan seat. The RJD found it difficult to give him a ticket in the changed caste and community equation.

Delimitation has not only created problems for individuals but for parties as well — the one big reason why the NDA and the RJD-LJP alliance is trying to woo Bhumihar,Rajput,Brahmin and Kayastha voters. While the RJD-LJP usually banks on the Muslim-Yadav combination,this time the LJP has given tickets to 18 upper caste candidates in its first list. The BJP has done this to supplement partner JD(U)’s “EBC and Muslim” politics.

Congress spokesperson Umakant Singh,who worked out the party’s “upper caste formula”,said: “Though there are only 16 per cent upper caste votes,they will be the deciding factor in triangular contests. With the Congress emerging as a new force,Lalu and Nitish have another reason to be restless.”

Former minister Akhilesh Singh,who quit the RJD to join the Congress,said: “The upper castes can tilt the balance in anyone’s favour.”

“RJD MP Jagdanand Singh joining the BJP and RJD MP Umashankar Singh vowing to campaign against the RJD suggests how delimitation has changed the upper caste dynamics this time,” said a political analyst.