
PATNA: Party-hopping has picked up in Bihar as the assembly election draws near, charging the state’s political atmosphere.
Leaders have begun switching sides in the hope of contesting the election representing parties of their choice. The parties embrace them with open arms to encash their caste identities and winnability factors.
On Tuesday, two senior leaders of the ruling Janata Dal (United) --Ali Anwar, former Rajya Sabha member and Bhagirath Manjhi, son of Bihar’s ‘Mountain Man’ Dasarath Manjhi joined the Congress.
In addition, Manoj Prajapati, state president of Akhil Bharatiya Prajapati Kumbhkar Sangh, along with other leaders, joined the grand old party. Ali Anwar is an influential Pasmanda community leader. Pasmandas form the lion’s share among the backward Muslim votes. He is a two-term Rajya Sabha member and All-India Pasmanda Muslim Samaj president.
“The Congress is trying to strengthen its support base among backward Muslims and Dalits through Ali Anwar and Dasarath Manjhi,” political analyst Pramod Kumar said.
On Saturday, state RJD vice president Shobha Kushwaha joined Chief Minister Nitish Kumar’s JD (U) along with a large number of supporters. The party hopes her entry will help consolidate the Luv-Kush (Kurmi-Koeri) vote base.
Shobha’s induction comes when the RJD is trying hard to make inroads into the Kushwaha vote bank. In the last Lok Sabha polls, it had fielded three Kushwaha candidates. It appointed Abhay Kushwaha, who won the election from Aurangabad, as its parliamentary party leader in the Lok Sabha. Shobha was also a member of the Bihar State Commission for the Protection of Child Rights.
A prominent leader of the Dhanuk caste (listed as EBC in Bihar), Ajay Rai from Bhagalpur, also joined JD (U) on the occasion. The JD (U) claimed he supported former poll strategist Prashant Kishor’s Jan Suraaj Party.
Recently, former JD (U) vice president Mangani Lal Mandal was inducted into the RJD by party leader Tejashwi Yadav. With the help of Mandal, Tejashwi is trying to woo the EBC vote bank.
The EBC support is considered crucial for getting and retaining power in Bihar. This has been Nitish’s core vote bank for the last 20 years. In the previous Lok Sabha elections, he had inducted Mukesh Sahni into the alliance to make inroads into the Mallah vote bank.
Mandal’s influence is believed to be in Madhubani, Darbhanga, Samastipur and Muzaffarpur of north Bihar. He has been an MLA and MP from Jhanjharpur. This time, RJD celebrated former chief minister Karpoori Thakur’s birth anniversary in Madhubani district’s Phulparas on Friday, considered as the ‘Karmabhhomi’ of Thakur, who was also from the EBC category.
In the 2020 assembly election, the grand alliance could not perform well in Samastipur, Darbhanga, Madhubani and Muzaffarpur. While the RJD won 11, Congress and CPI (M) won a seat each in Muzaffarpur and Samastipur.