RJD's Achilles' heel: Why BJP is championing the Dalit cause to target Lalu Yadav in poll-bound Bihar

Prime Minister Narendra Modi during his visit to Bihar's Siwan on Friday. (X/@narendramodi)

The gloves are off in Bihar where the BJP has launched a scathing attack against the RJD for "insulting" Dalit icon Babasaheb Bhim Rao Ambedkar in an event to mark its party chief Lalu Prasad Yadav's birthday earlier this month.

In his visit to the poll-bound state -- his fifth this year -- Prime Minister Narendra Modi raked up the issue to target the RJD and claimed that Bihar would never forgive the "insult to Ambedkar".

"Ambedkar was against dynasty rule. But they (RJD and its allies) do not like it. So they have his portrait placed at their feet. On my way, I saw posters demanding an apology for this insult to Babasaheb. But there has been no apology. This is because they hold Dalits in contempt. In contrast, Modi has Babasaheb in his heart and would like to keep his portrait close to his chest," the Prime Minister said at a rally in Siwan.

The Prime Minister, who chose not to name Lalu in his speech, was referring to a controversy involving the latter where Ambedkar's portrait was placed close to the RJD chief's feet on his birthday, drawing severe flak from the BJP-led NDA.

"The RJD-Congress people have little respect for people belonging to the deprived castes, the Dalits, the OBCs and the EBCs. They consider themselves above Babasaheb Ambedkar. But they must remember that the disrespect to Babasaheb Ambedkar will not be forgiven by the people of Bihar," the PM added.

The controversy over the Ambedkar photo in Bihar, and the BJP's aggressive attempt to capitalize on it, convey the party's intent to gain an upper hand against the Opposition nationally as well as in the poll-bound state. The BJP found itself on the backfoot in Parliament in December last year over Union Home Minister Amit Shah's remarks and struggled to shake off the "anti-Dalit" narrative peddled by the Opposition.

However, a deeper look into the BJP's recent aggression on the Ambedkar issue in Bihar reveals that there is more than meets the eye.

Dalits, who constitute 19.65 percent of the state's population (as per the 2023 Bihar caste survey), have never really rallied behind the RJD -- even during its peak in the Lalu-Rabri era. Lalu Yadav, who has transformed from being a champion of the OBCs at the beginning of his career to a socialist leader in the 1990s and is credited for cultivating the formidable Muslim-Yadav vote bank post the 1995 elections, has struggled to work his charm on Dalit voters.

Lalu's overtures post-2000 to lure Dalit voters have largely been limited to tokenism even as other parties rallied the support of smaller OBC caste groups like the Paswan and Ravidas communities. In 2000 when Lalu Yadav was jailed in the fodder scam and his wife Rabri Devi took over the party's reins in his absence, the RJD chief appointed prominent Dalit leader Ramai Ram as the state president. However, the appointment remained limited to tokenism as Muslims and Yadavs continued to be the core voter base of the RJD after the 2000 Assembly polls, which saw the party field many candidates from the two communities.

It was difficult for Lalu to consolidate Dalit voters as by that time (LJP founder) Ram Vilas Paswan emerged as the main stakeholder of the Paswan community while the Ravidas community was firmly behind the Congress and continues to be,” political analyst Sanjay Kumar told The Indian Express.

The RJD, cognizant of the problem, has tried to reverse its image under former Deputy CM and Lalu's heir apparent Tejashwi, who has attempted to pitch his party's "inclusive politics" in a bid to consolidate Dalit voters.

However, with a mere six of the RJD's 76 MLAs in the Bihar Assembly from the community and the continuing exodus of Dalit leaders from the party has deterred Dalit voters from aligning with the RJD. Former Bihar minister Shyam Rajak, a prominent Dalit leader from the state, quit the party in August 2024. Even the ones that remain are largely consigned to the sidelines -- former Speaker Uday Narayan Choudary to cite an example.

Willing to leave nothing to chance ahead of the key polls in Bihar, it comes as no surprise that the BJP, which has brought together a coalition of smaller sub caste-based Dalit parties under the NDA, is seeking to corner the RJD on the issue.

For the RJD, and Lalu Yadav in particular, the elusive Dalit vote also signifies a stark irony. As a young student leader in 1969, the first political rally that Lalu attended was for the Dalit cause. The rally, led by socialist leader Shivanand Tiwari, was to protest the Shankaracharya’s alleged derogatory remarks about Dalits.

Over five decades later, the same leader is being accused of insulting Ambedkar, the tallest Dalit icon India has ever seen.