Bihar: Why caste maths trumps parties’ income support schemes

JHANJHARPUR/MADHUBANI: BJP’s ‘assured income support’ scheme for farmers (PM-Kisan) and Congress’ Nyay promise of Rs 72,000 a year to poor families may bring some cheer but not many votes to the two parties as caste remains the overriding factor in these parts.
At best, the schemes may send a feel-good signal to potential beneficiaries in Mithilanchal and Kosi regions of Bihar whose five constituencies go to polls on Tuesday.
Farmers across the region said the first instalment of PM-Kisan (Rs 2,000) would not influence their vote and they would rather go by the candidate’s caste. The assured payout, they reckon, will reach them in any case if they send a “dominant” person of their caste to Parliament.
“Caste is a reality in Bihar. Anyone here can be drawn towards a party if it fields a prominent member of his/her caste as a candidate. These schemes (PM-Kisan and Nyay) may certainly help and provide some relief but I can tell you with my experience that it won’t alter the choice of voters who are emotionally drawn towards a candidate who belongs to their caste,” said J Paswan, a retired school teacher of Jhanjharpur in Madhubani district.
“If all parties field candidates of the same caste, considering the high percentage of a particular caste in a constituency, the voters will then assess the winning potential of a candidate and the nature of alliance,” he added.
Jhanjharpur goes to the polls along with Supaul, Araria, Khagaria and Madhepura.

Dhirendra Kumar of Hardi Paschim village in Supaul endorsed Paswan’s views. A strong supporter of RJD due to Lalu Prasad, Kumar said, “I received Rs 2,000 (first instalment of PM-Kisan) in my bank account but I won’t vote for the NDA candidate just because I got money. I would rather go for Mahagathbandhan candidate Ranjeet Ranjan of Congress. The scheme’s money will in any way come to you.”
Ranjeet Ranjan is the wife of Pappu Yadav, who is himself contesting from the Madhepura seat.
Poor farmers and farm labourers in the region appear to be going by the caste calculation and potential winning candidate as per their own perception.
Though Bihar has nearly 1.57 crore potential beneficiaries of PM-Kisan, the Centre on the basis of verified list of farmers could transfer Rs 2,000 each to only 2.15 lakh of farmers by March 31 — an indication that even the state government could not rush with the list of eligible farmers realising that the scheme may not garner votes for the NDA as thought earlier.
Even campaign posters and banners in the region have given a miss to PMKisan. Most big banners have “Dushman ke ghar me ghus kar, atankiyon par prahar — phir ek baat Modi sarkar” as the punch line, reflecting BJP’s campaign priorities.
The five constituencies which go to polls on Tuesday have nearly 89 lakh voters. Jhanjharpur will see a triangular contest among JD(U) candidate Ram Preet Mandal, the mahagathbandhan’s Gulab Yadav (who is contesting on RJD ticket) and former five-time MP from this seat Devendra Prasad Yadav who is fighting as an independent.