Saran is from where lalu Prasad started his political journey, winning the 1977 election to the lok Sabha. Thirty-eight years down the line, lalu remains a popular figure in the rural belt where his caste men have an overwhelming presence.
During the lalu-Rabri 15 years rule, Yadavs wielded enormous influence in this region and often exploited their proximity to the power. The memories of those dark days, when police shuddered to register even an FIR against a Yadav lawbreaker, still hound the people here.
If the upper castes are up in arms to stop the resurgence of the Yadavs, then a section of the backward castes are also uneasy with the prospect of lalu’s caste men unleashing the same reign of terror all over again in his karmbhoomi. It will be a tall order for both lalu and Nitish Kumar to convince the voters that a victory for their ‘grand alliance’ will not pave the way for the return of the same old order.
However, this is not a universal theme across the State, but phenomena largely confined to Saran, which saw the most aggressive assertion of Yadav’s supremacy in the RJD era. This was mainly due to lalu’s personal association with the district that gave the Yadavs a veritable carte blanche to break law with impunity.
Wander off to any village in Parsa, and this “fear” factor can be found all pervasive. “You can’t imagine how they tormented us. It was impossible to go out after sunset unless you risked being robbed off. Even inside our houses we were not safe,” says Mukesh Kumar Mahto, a Kuswaha youth, recalling the period between 1990 and 2005.
Mukesh was quick to add that Nitish Kumar has done very good job and pointed to the concrete road that meanders across the interior village. “We have at least 18 hours of electric supply and no law and order problem. Things are fine in Nitish Raj, but what will happen when the Yadavs taste power all over againIJ”
Dozens of people spoken to in the villages narrated the same story. Nitish’s good work is being neutralised by the fear of the return of the Yadavs.
Dig a little deeper to understand if under the influence of their caste chieftain Upendra Kushwaha these people were looking for an excuse to not back the grand alliance, and the answer is a firm ‘no’.
“That is not the issue here. Upendra Kuswaha is not a factor for us. He has never bothered about us. We are only worried about the high-handedness of the Yadavs,” says Ramadhar Singh, a man in his sixties. “It’s going to be very painful decision for us not to vote for Nitish Kumar,” he adds.
A kilometre away, this reporter comes across a bunch of young men at a roadside kiosk. The shop owner was a vociferous supporter of the NDA even though he admitted Nitish Kumar has done a lot of good work.
“Modiji (Prime Minister) is right when he says lalu wants to bring back jungle Raj in Bihar. We have not forgotten what his caste men did to us. We could not even do our marketing due to fear of being looted,” he said.
In a caste-ridden society the trader community has mostly thrown its lot behind the BJP, but the fear echoed by the shop owner rings louder in upwardly mobile castes which bore the brunt of the law and order collapse during the lalu era.
Those at the bottom of the pyramid, who were trampled upon both by the Yadavs and the upper castes alike in the past, are still beholden to lalu. At a small hamlet of Nonia castes, the scenario is different.
They are going to vote for the RJD candidate Chandrika Roy, son of former Bihar Chief Minister Daroga Rai.
"Before lalu became Chief Minister Rajputs treated us like slaves. He gave us self respect and freedom from such slavery. Yadavs protected us from these feudal elements," said a Dukhan Prasad, a middle school teacher.
The opinion may be divided about lalu Prasad's legacy, but there are no two views on the performance of Nitish Kumar. In any village or hamlet, people uniformly praise his good work. It's a different matter that development alone cannot make one a winner in the maize of Bihar's caste politics.