The remarkable rise of Biharis in Delhi: From cheap labour to influential vote-bank

The selection of Bihari candidates for the Lok Sabha polls from Delhi by both the major formations – Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Aam Aadmi Party-Congress alliance clearly indicate that Purvanchalis, rather Biharis, have become a major political entity in the national capital. Today, they are not just at par but more influential than other major electoral blocks like that of Punjabis, Vaishyas, Gujjars, Jats and minorities.

Numerically, the two formations together have fielded two Vaishyas, two Gujjars, two Punjabis, one Jat, three Scheduled Caste (two from reserved seats) and four Biharis. The emergence of the Purvanchalis/Biharis as the most influential electoral community is a story of a long journey of struggle and perseverance.

During the watershed Assembly election in Delhi in 2013, the then Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit was looking forward to a fourth term. The confidence emanated from the development overhaul she carried out during the 2010 Commonwealth Games. Though the Congress government at the Centre was mired in allegations of corruption, Dikshit felt assured of steering clear of it. However, then Congress member of Lok Sabha from West Delhi, Mahabal Mishra, had warned Dikshit about an impending defeat and had suggested to her that she could gamble by giving a large chunk of tickets to the party workers from Purvanchal (migrants from east UP and Bihar). Dikshit, who was never comfortable with Mishra, saw it as a ruse on the part of the Purvanchali leader to create a claim for himself as a rival to her.

More from Opinion

Sergio Gor’s senate hearing signals the future of Indo-American ties How Trump’s ‘War on Drugs’ buildup against Venezuela has a hidden agenda

As the results came out, she was dismayed that her development drive was drowned in the cacophony let loose by the Anna Hazare movement, whose product is the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP). The arrival of Arvind Kejriwal and the AAP marked the beginning of a new genre of politics.

During the past three decades, Delhi has undergone a deep demographic change. The migrants arriving in the city, which is North India’s El Dorado, have given a new character to its social and cultural life. From being poor tenants in the unauthorised colonies, they are now proud holders of plots but have been fighting with successive governments for the assertion of their civic rights. Their struggle has not been limited to the recognition of their housing plots. They eke out a living fighting various forces of corruption aka government. The Congress and the BJP all those years instead of holding their hand depended on poll malpractices, exploiting their poverty to get their mandate.

The migrants from the eastern districts of Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand and some districts of Madhya Pradesh bordering these areas for long looked for a role in the politics of the national capital. When Kejriwal, during the campaign in 2015, said to accept liquor and money from the Congress and the BJP but vote for him, he showed that he had his ear to the ground. In that poll, the AAP had put up Purvanchali candidates in 15 out of 70 seats and they all romped home. Today, Mahabal Mishra is AAP’s candidate from West Delhi. His son Vinay is an AAP MLA from their traditional Dwarka seat.

Impact Shorts

More Shorts

How army remains Pakistan’s biggest business house

60 years on, why 1965 India–Pakistan war still matters

For the 2024 Lok Sabha polls, for which voting is scheduled in Delhi on May 26, the BJP has fielded one Bihari candidate Manoj Tiwari, the sitting MP from the North East Delhi seat. AAP-Congress has fielded three Biharis – Kanhaiya Kumar from North East Delhi, Somnath Bharti from the New Delhi seat and the veteran Mahabal Mishra from the West Delhi seat. While Kanhaiya Kumar and Manoj Tiwari are imports into the capital’s politics, Mahabal Mishra and Somnath Bharti have grown politically in the national capital.

One may recall that Mahabal Mishra was the first Bihari to win an electoral battle, winning a seat as a corporator from Nasirpur in Outer Delhi in 1996. Though before him, a Purvanchali, Lal Bihari Tiwari had won Assembly polls from the East Delhi seat of Ghonda and become a minister in the state BJP government. Later, Tiwari won three consecutive Lok Sabha polls in 1997 (bypoll), 1998 and 1999. However, there is a marked difference in the politics of Tiwari and the present-day Bihari politicians in the capital – from meek submission to that of aggressive assertion.

According to the data released by the Election Commission, Delhi has a total of 1,47,42,145 voters — 79,98,652 male, 67,42,330 female and 1163 from the third gender. This is up by about 6.5 per cent from 1,38,46,482 in 2019. According to estimates, 33.5 per cent of the total 1.48 crore voters across the seven Lok Sabha constituencies are Purvanchalis. Their presence varies from 24 per cent in Chandni Chowk to 41 per cent in East Delhi. On the North East Delhi seat, they constitute 40 per cent of the votes, while they account for 37 per cent of votes in New Delhi, 34 per cent in West Delhi, 31 per cent in North West Delhi and 27 per cent in South Delhi. Today, there isn’t a constituency in Delhi where the ‘Chhath’ festival of Bihar is not celebrated.

But will the Biharis vote as a bloc or would have ideological preferences depending on their allegiance in the home state? This is something which the political parties, especially the BJP, would be accountable for. There are two other crucial seats – New Delhi and West Delhi, where the BJP needs to crack the Bihari pot to sail through.

The writer is an author and president, the Centre for Reforms, Development & Justice. Views expressed in the above piece are personal and solely those of the author. They do not necessarily reflect Firstpost’s views.