In Bihar, just before Parashuram Jayanti, a new slogan has created a stir in the political circles. The new slogan raised by some Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) leaders and workers is being seen as the new social engineering of the party. The party, which failed to register victories in the last several elections on the MY factor, is now eyeing Brahmins and Bhumihars, who have long been considered staunch supporters of the BJP.
RJD leaders and activists are all set to celebrate Parashuram Jayanti with much fanfare this time, which is being seen as an attempt to appease the Brahmins. Not only this, a new slogan has also been given, Babhan’s (Brahmin)’s chuda, Yadav’s curd, Dunu milli then all hoi sahi in Bihar. During the recent MLC elections, RJD got good support from the Bhumihar fraternity. Now the party’s eye is on Brahmins, who make up about 6 per cent of the population in Bihar. The population of Brahmins may not be very large, but they are very influential in education and social level. They are also seen as ‘opinion makers’.
Political experts believe that in reality the RJD has realized that it needs the cooperation of all sections of the society to come to power. Because of the ‘Yadav-Muslim’ tag, many caste groups do not vote for the RJD despite their displeasure with the NDA government. It is also being said that the party has also changed its strategy after seeing the results of the UP elections, where Akhilesh Yadav this time focused on the upper castes and non-Yadav OBC castes, while avoiding the MY tag to some extent. The Samajwadi Party may not reach power, but under the new strategy, it was successful in increasing the seats and vote percentage significantly.
Bihar’s politics was once changed with ‘clean brown hair’
The RJD’s attempt to woo Brahmins is also interesting as the party was once accused of mobilizing non-Savarna castes by giving the slogan ‘Bhara Baal Safa Karo’. The slogan, which came in the backdrop of upper-caste dominance in Bihar that had given several Brahmin chief ministers before the 90s, meant B to Bhumihar, Ra to Rajput, Ba to Brahmin and L to Lala (Kayastha). However, later RJD national president Lalu Prasad Yadav clarified this in his autobiography and wrote that he had not given this slogan. He blamed the media for this. Whether this slogan was given by Lalu or not, but it is clear that this slogan had changed the politics of Bihar for almost a decade and a half.