BJP leader Amit Shah (right) blows a conch beside Mr Ravi Shankar Prasad outside the BJP headquarters in New Delhi— Pritam Bandy
The Narendra Modi juggernaut comprehensively demolished the “Mandal” politics of Uttar Pradesh and Bihar. With the BJP and its allies winning over 100 seats out of 120 in these two states, the proponents of caste-based “Mandal” politics have reason to worry.
For over two decades “Mandal” politics dominated the Gangetic plains of UP and Bihar. SP supremo Mulayam Singh Yadav, BSP chief Mayawati, RJD’s Lalu Prasad Yadav and JD(U) leader Nitish Kumar benefited hugely from this brand of politics.
This time the SP won five seats in UP, all places where Mulayam Singh Yadav and his clan were in the fray. Mayawati’s BSP drew a blank. In 2009, the SP and BSP together won 42 of the state’s 80 seats.
The rout of “Mandal” politics also blew caste leaders away in Bihar. The ruling JD(U) won just two Lok Sabha seats, while the RJD only retained the four seats it won in 2009.
JD(U) chief Sharad Yadav, self-styled icon of “Mandal” politics, also lost from Madhepura to RJD “bahubali” (muscleman) Rajesh Ranjan.