‘Bhim Sansad’ to ‘Bhim Mahakumbh’: Eye on Bihar polls, Nitish doubles down on Dalit outreach

A day later, on Ambedkar Jayanti, Nitish announced the “Ambedkar Samagra Yojana” through which his government would reach out to 40 lakh Dalit families over the next 100 days to ensure they get benefits of about a dozen welfare schemes.

Speaking to The Indian Express, the JD(U)’s Dalit leader and its lone MLC from the community, Ashok Kumar Choudhary said Nitish has been stressing that the benefits of the Dalit-centric schemes must reach the SC communities. “Our government has always reached out to Dalits as well as the poor. While the Bhim Sansad reached 19 of the 38 districts in the state, the Bhim Samvad focused on the government’s continued efforts to improve the lives of marginalised people,” he said.

According to Choudhary, who is also the state Buildings and Construction Minister, the JD(U) is also planning to hold a “Bhim Mahakumbh” closer to the elections to make the Dalit communities aware of what the Nitish government has done for them. “We will also assure them of doing more,” he added.

Besides Choudhary, other key Dalit leaders of the JD(U) include former MLA Arun Manjhi, and state ministers Sunil Kumar and Ratnesh Sada.

Some of the key government schemes for Dalits in Bihar include a financial aid of Rs 50,000 and Rs 1 lakh for candidates clearing the Bihar Public Service Commission (BPSC) prelims and Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) prelims respectively, appointment of Rs 9,000 Vikas Mitras to liaise between the government and the SC communities, Rs 10 lakh (including a 50% grant) to start a business and scholarships for each Dalit student studying in the 91 Ambedkar residential schools.

The JD(U)’s push to connect with the SC communities, which constitute 19.65% of the state’s population, also comes amid Prashant Kishor’s Jan Suraaj Party (JSP) eyeing their votes even as the Dalit-centric parties like the Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas) led by Chirag Paswan, Hindustani Awam Morcha (Secular) of former CM Jitan Ram Manjhi and Pashupati Kumar Paras’ Rashtriya Lok Janshakti Party (RLJP) look to retain their influence among their respective SC bases.

The JD(U)’s renewed Dalit pitch is being seen as part of its efforts to stem the decline of its electoral fortunes as the party saw its Assembly tally fall from 71 seats in 2015 to 43 seats in 2020. Bihar has 38 Assembly and six Lok Sabha seats reserved for the SCs.

In the SC-reserved Assembly constituencies too, the JD(U)’s share has dipped. While the party won 11 of the 38 seats in 2015, it won only eight of these seats in 2020.

In the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, the NDA won five SC-reserved seats, of which the JD(U) and HAM(S) won one each while the LJP (RV) won three. The Congress won the remaining one seat.

Significantly, it was Nitish who had, during his previous stint as the CM between 2005-2010, clubbed 32 “most backward” SC communities in the state, and termed them Mahadalits. Over the years, Nitish has expanded his political constituency and currently has a support base among significant sections of the SC communities barring Paswans besides a large chunk of the Extremely Backward Classes (EBCs) and the Kurmi-Koeri (OBC) groups.

In its Budget for 2025-26, the Nitish-led NDA government has set aside Rs 1,935 crore for the SC/ST Welfare Department, which includes Rs 550 for the Mahadalit Vikas Mission Scheme.