BJP's priority: Keep upper caste votes intact & woo OBCs, Dalits
New Delhi: As the battle lines have been drawn for the Bihar assembly seats, it's now clear that BJP's top priority is grabbing its upper caste vote share apart from making inroads in OBC and Dalit vote banks.
In the BJP's second list of 46 candidates for the second phase of assembly elections, nearly half of the candidates belong to the upper castes coming from Rajputs, Bhumihars, Brahmins, Kayasthas and Vaishyas, which is considered as the core base of the saffron party in the state.
Notably, voting for the total 94 seats in the second phase is scheduled on November 3.
The BJP, which talks in volume about uplifting minority community and "confident" of getting some votes of the community, has not fielded even a single Muslim candidate, while its key ally Janata Dal-United has given tickets to over a dozen Muslim leaders.
As the percentage of Yadav votes dominates caste politics in the state, the BJP has fielded eight Yadav candidates in an attempt to make a dent into the opposition RJDs unquestionable sway over the most sizeable OBC group in the state.
The JD(U), which has announced its candidates for all the 115 seats of its share out of 122, has also fielded a substantial number of Yadav candidates.
Given that Yadavs constitute about 16 per cent of the electorate in the state, both the allies of NDA are trying to woo the Yadav voters when Lalu Prasad Yadav is not in the poll scene as the RJD supremo is in jail after conviction in four cases of multi-crore fodder scam.
The BJP has also fielded candidates from other OBC castes, while seven Dalit candidates will seek votes for the party in reserved constituencies.
The key candidates from upper castes fielded in the second phase include Rana Randhir Singh (Rajput) from Madhuban, Mithilesh Tiwari (Brahmin) from Baikunthpur, Kundan Singh (Bhumihar) from Begusarai, Nitish Mishra (Brahmin) from Jhanjharpur, Nitin Nabin (Kayasthas) from Bankipur, Sanjeev Chaurasia (Vaishyas) from Digha assembly seat.
The Yadav candidates figured in the BJP list include Cabinet Minister Nand Kishore Yadav from Patna Sahib, Om Prakash Yadav from Siwan, Nikhil Anand from Maner, Shyambabu Prasad Yadav from Pipara, Satish Kumar Yadav from Raghopur, Ashas Sinha from Danapur.
Nikhil Anand, a young Yadav face, is another candidate, who has risen from the ranks and made it to the final list. Anand, who is one of the most prominent spokesmen in the state unit, has been fielded against RJD's strongman Bhai Virendra in Maner.
Despite "strong" lobbying, the party has not given a ticket to Union minister Ashwini Kumar Choubey's elder
son Arijit Shashwat, who had made a failed attempt to enter politics in 2015 from his father's strong-hold seat of Bhagalpur.
The BJP has trusted district unit chief Rahul Pandey rather than Shashwat, who was even jailed for allegedly instigating riots in Bhagalpur in 2018.
