Bihar Politics: In Bihar politics, the electoral journey of all political parties remains incomplete without mentioning Dalits. Everyone desires this vote bank. But in this MLC election, the NDA did not nominate a Dalit candidate for the Upper House.
Not a single Dalit in the NDA’s MLC candidate list
Patna: All the fabrications that could be woven regarding the MLC elections in Bihar politics have already been woven. Speaking of the current MLC elections, Dalits are not a factor in the NDA’s social justice. The significant thing is that even the party that makes its political living by building on Dalit politics failed to send a Dalit leader to the Legislative Council, nor could it secure the rights of the 18 percent vote bank.
Not a single Dalit in the NDA has been given an MLC ticket.
NDA strategists have jointly announced the candidates for the nine full-time MLC seats and one by-election (vacated by Nitish Kumar) in 2026. Considering this announcement, the Janata Dal (United) has announced one candidate from the backward caste and three from the most backward caste. This list does not include any Dalit leaders. Nishant Kumar from the Kurmi caste, Dr. Bharti Mehta, Shivani Prajapati, and Lalan Mandal from the most backward castes have been nominated.
BJP also distances itself from Dalits in the MLC elections.
Meanwhile, the Bharatiya Janata Party also showed indifference towards Dalits. BJP strategists have announced two candidates from the upper caste and two from the most backward castes. These include Pawan Singh from the Rajput caste, Sanjay Mayukh from the Kayastha caste, Anil Kumar Thakur from the barber caste, and Sheela Pandit from the potter caste.
The party that practices Dalit politics lagged behind.
Chirag Paswan, the national president of the Lok Janshakti Party, a party that practices Dalit politics, also did not light the Dalit lamp this time, demonstrating mutual coordination. Chirag Paswan declared Ashraf Ansari, a Muslim, as his candidate.
Learn the names and castes of the 11 MLCs announced for 2026.
- Arvind Sharma from Bhumihar
- Pawan Singh from Rajput
- Nishant Kumar from Kurmi
- Sanjay Mayukh from Kayastha
- Ashraf Ansari from Muslim
- Bharti Mehta from Extremely Backward Class
- Lalan Mandal from Extremely Backward Class
- Anil Kumar Thakur from Extremely Backward Class
- Sheela Pandit from Extremely Backward Class
Learn how long has JDU rejected Dalits?
In March 2021, members were nominated to fill 12 vacant seats in the Bihar Legislative Council (MLC) from the Governor’s quota. These nominations were made by then Governor Fagu Chauhan on March 17, 2021, on the recommendation of the state cabinet. JDU then sent a Dalit leader, Ashok Chaudhary, to the Upper House. At that time, JDU and BJP fielded candidates for six seats each. JDU sent Upendra Kushwaha, Ashok Chaudhary, Sanjay Kumar Singh (aka Sanjay Gandhi), Lalan Kumar Saraf, Ram Vachan Rai, Sanjay Singh, and the BJP sent Janak Ram, Devesh Kumar, Rajendra Prasad Gupta, Pramod Kumar, Ghanshyam Thakur, and Nivedita Singh to the Legislative Council.
Written by: Ramakant Chandan Edited by: Rishikesh Narayan Singh
About the Author
Ramakant Chandan began his journalism career in 1988 as a freelancer with Navbharat Times and Dainik Hindustan. He formally joined Rashtriya Sahara in 1996, starting with Haatsekhar, Noida. He became a special correspondent in 2012. In 2020, he became the local editor of Rashtriya Sahara Patna and in 2022, he became the consulting editor of Rashtriya Sahara.
Courtesy: Hindi News