December 21, 2025

Bihar: New Political Alignments

By Linus Garg
First publised on 2020-08-21 08:45:32

About the Author

Linus tackles things head-on. He takes sides in his analysis and it fits excellently with our editorial policy. No 'maybe's' and 'allegedly' for him, only things in black and white.

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The Mahagathbandhan in Bihar is on the rocks ahead of the elections in the state. In the latest development, former chief minister Jiten Ram Majhi, the chief of Hindustan Awam Morcha (HAM), quit the alliance. The party said that it cannot be a part of the alliance as its demand for setting up of a coordination committee to decide on the seat-sharing formula and declaring of the candidate for the post of chief minister was being ignored. Majhi accused the RJD of trying to control the Mahagathbandhan to further its own interests. Although Majhi is a small player in the caste-ridden politics in Bihar (his party fought the elections from 20 seats last time but won only in 1), the votes of his Mahadalit community can make a difference in several seats. Majhi is expected to join the NDA alliance, either by keeping his separate identity or merging his party with Nitish Kumar's JD(U).

On the other hand, the RJD is facing an acute problem of defections. Important leaders are leaving the party and most of them are crossing over to the JD(U). Chandrika Rai (whose daughter is married to Lalu Prasad's elder son Tej Pratap) left the party to join the JD(U). Five other MLAs - Jaivardhan Yadav,  Faraz Fatmi, Maheshwar Prasad Yadav, Prema Choudhary and Ashok Kumar - had also joined the JD(U) earlier. Each of these leaders has a good local following and can cut into the vote bank of the RJD. It seems that the party is unable to get its act together under the leadership of Tejashwi Yadav.

The problems of the Mahagathbandhan must be music to the ears of Nitish Kumar and the BJP. The present NDA government was facing anti-incumbency and despite the bravado displayed by Amit Shah in his virtual rally, things were getting tough for the alliance. But if they manage to snare important leaders from the opposition, they might still score a win as nothing matters more in Bihar than caste affiliations. Since most seats can swing with a small percentage of votes, the alliance that gets its caste combination right is likely to win. The NDA seems to be getting a head start in this.