On road to Seemanchal, castes split and solidify, but Nitish stands above | Political Pulse News
While caste has been seen as central to politics in Bihar over decades now, a trend is visible as one travels the state. Many castes act as individual entities rather than as sub-groups of wider categories, and have their own leaders. The Kushwahas, the Mallahs, the Manjhis and the Kushwahas are cases in point, apart from the older example of Yadavs. However, there is one exception to this trend – Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, who has over the last two decades grown from a Kurmi leader to one who has successfully woven a coalition of castes around his persona. Even in the twilight of his politics, his combination is not just alive but still highly committed to him. So in a state where the RJD’s Tejashwi Yadav is seen as a leader of the Yadavs, the LJP (RV)’s Chirag Paswan that of the Dusadhs, and the BJP’s Giriraj Singh and Samrat Choudhary of the Bhumihars and Kushwahas, respectively, Nitish’s appeal is beyond his Kurmi community. This is significant as, otherwise, the Kurmi leader starts from …
