Bihar elections: Will Tejashwi Yadav's move to woo traditional JD(U) constituents yield electoral dividends?

Tejashwi Yadav

As the two main constituents of the Opposition’s Grand Alliance ( Mahagathbandhan) Congress and the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) iron out seat-sharing formula, RJD leader and alliance's de facto chief ministerial candidate is aggressively seeking to stitch together a social coalition of caste and community leaders that traditionally belong to the Janata Dal United JD(U).

A report by The Federal states that in an apparent effort to chip away at the voter base of his NDA rivals, particularly chief minister Nitish Kumar’s JD(U), the Yadav scion plans to increase the representation of upper caste Bhumihars, backward caste Kushwahas and Koeris, and the extremely backward class Tanti-Tatwa community.

While Yadav's outreach towards Koeris and Kushwahas, a traditional constituent of the JD(U), has been an ongoing effort, the push to loop in Bhumihars is a significant departure for the party that had, in the 2020 Bihar elections, the party fielded only one Bhumihar candidate. Bhumihars, with their traditional hold on land, were among the first communities in Bihar to actively pursue political power.

The Koeris have been an important electoral constituent in Bihar for many reasons. One, the Koeri caste has the largest population in terms of numbers. According to the Caste Based Census Report-2022, the population of Koeri/Kushwaha in Bihar is 5,506,113 while the population of Dangis is only 336,629.

Several political observers have opined that RJD is making significant inroads into upper castes, particularly Bhumihars. “Once a solid vote base for BJP and JD(U), Bhumihars are now drifting towards RJD. This is significant for the opposition and being aided by growing discontent among Bhumihars over their sidelining in key positions.

Being a part of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA), the JD(U) has always been seen as a party that transfers its EBC and Mahadalit votes to the BJP while the saffron party delivered its upper caste and trading class votes to the alliance. Over the years, the arrangement worked perfectly for both parties, but the 2020 assembly election appears to have upended traditional wisdom.

While the saffron party appears to have bagged the JD(U)’s traditional votes in the seats it contested—reflected in the saffron party’s increase in seats from 53 in 2015 to 74 in 2020 -- it apparently could not transfer the upper caste votes to Nitish’s party. Now, in the backdrop of an impression that the upper caste voters no longer back JD(U), the party wants to put its best foot forward and win back this segment of the electorate.

Tejashwi Yadav seems to have taken a leaf out of Nitish's 2020 gameplan -- when Nitish Kumar's JD(U) in 2025 tried to woo RJD's vote bank by fielding scores of Muslim-Yadav candidates. Kumar has also tried to appease all the castes which has given a big blow to the opposition party.

Nitish's focus on 'RJD's core vote bank had given a big jolt to RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav. Interestingly, several Muslim and Yadav leaders, who have a good electoral presence in their respective areas, have ditched RJD and took shelter in JD(U). The ruling party had given tickets to all its turncoats and has also given priority to upper caste, lower caste and minorities.