Bihar Elections 2025: After the death of Paswan, there is a competition between Manjhi and Chirag for Dalit leadership in Bihar. This will affect the formation of government on 40 reserved seats. Manjhi’s Mahadalit card and Chirag’s legacy, who will win will have to be seen.
Patna: After the death of Ram Vilas Paswan, a Mahasangram has been sparked between Jitan Ram Manjhi and Chirag Paswan to sit on the throne of Dalit politics in Bihar. Before the upcoming assembly elections, the two leaders are claiming to be the real representative of the Dalit community. The war of this leadership is going to have a direct impact on 40 reserved seats, which can prove to be decisive in forming the government. Who will win between Union Minister Jitan Ram Manjhi’s Mahadalit card and the legacy of Chirag Paswan’s father, it will be decided in the coming months. The death of Ram Vilas Paswan in 2020 created a big void in Bihar’s Dalit politics. For four decades, no one else had the political stature and influence of Ram Vilas Paswan, who was an undisputed leader of the Dalit community.
Chirag Paswan
After the death of Ram Vilas, the Paswan was divided into the family. Chirag Paswan adopted a different path from his uncle Paras Paswan. This division led to the scattering of the Dalit vote bank. Chirag Paswan has tried to create a distinct identity with LJP (R), currently he is an associate of NDA and a minister at the Center. Chirag Paswan also describes himself as Hanuman of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Chirag Paswan has claimed to carry forward his father’s political legacy. At the age of 33, they are trying to create an image of young Dalit leadership. Through LJP (R), he is engaged in establishing a new political identity. Ram Vilas Paswan’s son is his biggest political capital and a family influence in the Doshi, Koiri community.
The political network from Jamui to Hajipur is with Chirag and their popularity can be seen among the new generation Dalit voters. With the claim of Ram Vilas’s legacy, Chirag has declared himself the national president of LJP (R) and is adopting a strategy to bring forward the young faces.
Jitan Ram Manjhi
Jitan Ram Manjhi has created a distinct identity through Mahadalit politics. He has strengthened his claim in Dalit politics since he became the Chief Minister of Bihar in 2014. Currently, taking advantage of being a Union Minister, he is trying to increase his political stature. Manjhi Mahadalit, who comes from the Mushar community, claims to lead the 21 castes involved in the category.
Manjhi, the founder of Hindustani Awam Morcha (Hum), is an ally of NDA and won 3 reserved seats in 2020. He has a strong base in Gaya, Arwal, Jehanabad and his influence can be seen in the Dalit community in the Magadha region. Due to the status of the Union Minister, his political weight has increased and Mahadalit is trying to take credit for development schemes.
Manjhi vs lamp, where whose hold
Manjhi’s region in the political influence area is the Magadh region (Gaya, Arwal, Jehanabad), Mahadalit dominated area and reserved seats in South Bihar. The area of Chirag is Munger-Jamui Belt, Traditional LJP Garh and some seats in Central Bihar. There are overlapping areas for both reserved seats around Patna, the northern region of the Ganges and the urban Dalit voters.
Dalit politics of Bihar
Looking at the historical reference of Dalit politics, Babu Jagjivan Ram started. In Jagjivan Ram Yuga (1946–1986), a long term as a Union Minister as a Dalit leader of Congress and laid the foundation of Dalit politics. In the Ram Vilas Paswan Yuga (1969-2020), Jagjivan Ram’s legacy was carried forward, socialist politics was associated and non-Congress Dalit leadership emerged.
It was a significant turn of 1977 when Jagjivan Ram left the Congress and formed the Janata Party. V.P. in the change of 1989–90 The role of Ram Vilas was seen in the Singh government. Due to the influence of Mandal Commission, the politics of backward-Dalit alliances started and it was further strengthened during Lalu Prasad.
Reserve seats will be decisive in forming government
At present, the battle of Dalit leadership in Bihar is not only a personal matter of Manjhi VS Chirag. This is a fight to fill the political void born after the death of Ram Vilas Paswan. The two leaders have their own advantages and disadvantages. The result of this Mahasangram in 40 reserved seats will not only be decisive in forming the government, but will also decide the direction of Dalit politics in Bihar for the next two decades. At present, both are engaged in strengthening their respective land. The election of 2025 will decide who is the real heir of Ram Vilas Paswan’s political legacy – experienced Manjhi or young lamp.
Status of 2020
If we look at the position of 2020 in electoral mathematics of 40 reserved seats, the NDA got 21 seats (Manjhi-3, BJP-11, JDU-7) and Grand Alliance got 18 seats (RJD-9, Congress-5, Left-4).