NEW DELHI: The consolidation of Kurmis and Kushwahas – two intermediary backward castes – behind Nitish Kumar powered his rise two decades back, and as he took take oath for an unprecedented 10th time as Bihar CM on Thursday, their share in the assembly also hit a high.NDA’s social coalition, which joins two ends of the caste spectrum by bringing together upper castes and Dalits – with the sprawling non-Yadav backward classes and EBCs in between – was the natural beneficiary of the alliance’s sweeping mandate, but the two backward castes have made the biggest gains, largely on the back of nearly 100% rise in the seats of Nitish’s JDU.In the 243-member assembly, Kurmis account for 25 MLAs, while Kushwahas, also known as Koeris in Bihar, have 26 MLAs. Their numbers were 10 and 16 in the outgoing House.The number of extremely backward classes (EBC) MLAs has seen a jump from 29 to 35 and that of upper castes to 72 from 63.The population of Kushwahas is 4.21% and Kurmis 2.87% in Bihar, according to a caste survey by the state govt. Kushwahas are the second-most numerous caste after Yadavs (14.26%), while Kurmis, who score best among all backward castes on development metrics like education and share in govt jobs, have been politically more organised. Nitish, too, hails from the caste.Manindra Nath Thakur, an associate professor at Centre for Political Studies in JNU, said this is a high moment for the two castes. Both trace their origin to Luv-Kush and have exhibited a shared political purpose, he said, noting that they had broken away under Nitish from a broad social alliance Lalu Prasad had formed to counter the domination of upper castes but was perceived to be hegemonised by Yadavs. Due to a fragmented EBC, which is 26% of population, excluding Muslims, and included dozens of castes, Kurmi-Koeri are in a position to lead this social alliance, he noted.Political analyst Sanjay Kumar, however, cautioned against seeing any long-term implication in the rise of the number of Kurmi-Kushwaha MLAs, saying it was election-specific. It is natural because JDU has performed exceptionally well, and the party enjoys a strong support base in these castes, he added.Enthusiastic backing of the governing alliance by Kushwaha voters also show-ed the suggestion that the community was drifting away was incorrect, he added.If NDA’s sweep has taken the share of Kurmi-Kushwaha MLAs to a high, the decimation of RJD-led Mahagathbandhan has had an opposite impact on the numbers of representatives from Muslims and Yadavs, who have been its solid supporters. Muslim MLAs are at an all-time low of 11 in the new assembly, while Yadavs’ tally has fallen to 28 from 55.
