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One of the striking aspects of the upcoming Bihar assembly polls is that the Grand Alliance, also known as Mahagathbandhan (consisting of Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD), Congress, Left Parties and Vikashsheel Insan Party (VIP) ) has unanimously declared that Tejashwi Yadav and Mukesh Sahani of the VIP would be chief minister and deputy chief minister, respectively on securing the mandate of the people. In contrast, the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) has not announced current chief minister Nitish Kumar’s name as the chief ministerial candidate and rather Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader and Union home minister Amit Shah has declared that NDA MLAs would decide its chief minister after winning the elections.

It is important to be mindful that the 2025 Bihar assembly elections are being held after the historic caste survey was conducted in the state, and the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of the voter list undertaken by the Election Commission of India (ECI), which faces credible charges that lakhs of eligible voters have been disenfranchised.

The caste survey brought to light startling details about not just the numerical strength of each caste or group of castes but also their social and economic status.

It is well documented that in a state like Bihar, caste identity is one of the weighty factors for political mobilisation of the people and determination of their choice to exercise their votes for a particular political party or candidate in electoral fray. Therefore, in the caste survey the startling figure of 35% of Other Backward Classes (EBCs), consisting of several castes with very low social and economic indicators, can hardly be ignored by any political party while finalising the list of candidates for........

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