In Bihar, cautious NDA goes with known knowns as RJD seeks to expand base

Now that both the NDA and INDIA bloc have announced their seat-sharing formula, and their constituent parties have declared their candidates as well, two things are clearly emerging in the battle for Bihar. While the NDA, which had won 39 out of 40 seats in the 2019 polls, is banking mostly on sitting MPs, RJD chief Lalu Prasad has, expectedly, dictated the terms within the INDIA bloc as far as ally Congress goes.

More importantly, Lalu has tried to go beyond the RJD’s traditional Muslim-Yadav (MY) vote base to ‘BAAP’ – or Bahujan (backwards)-Agda (forwards)-Aadhi aabadi (women) and Poor – giving INDIA’s target caste combination the catchy acronym of ‘MY-BAAP’.

As part of this plan, the RJD has fielded upper caste candidates, apart from OBC Luv-Kush (or Kurmi-Koeri) groups, as well as the Economically Backward Classes (EBCs) among OBCs.

Though the Congress isn’t too happy with its list of nine seats, it has little choice but to take the slim pickings offered by the RJD.

While the RJD drew a blank in the 19 seats it contested in 2019, it is deriving its confidence from both the 2020 Assembly polls which saw it emerge as the single-largest party despite Lalu’s absence from the scene, as well as Tejashwi Yadav’s emergence as his father’s sure-footed political heir since. This time, the RJD will contest 26 seats.

“Ever since the Congress won just 19 out of the 70 seats it contested in the 2020 Assembly polls, he (Lalu) has lost confidence in the Congress. While we wanted the Congress in the alliance, we did not want it to become a baggage. On the other hand, the CPI(ML) was rewarded with three Lok Sabha seats, as it won 12 in the 2020 Assembly polls. Lalu and Tejashwi have reworked the social combination and woven the 2024 Bihar