For close to three decades, Bochahan, comprising a cluster of underdeveloped villages in North Bihar’s Muzaffarpur district, was synonymous with Ramai Ram. The diminutive Dalit leader wielded tremendous clout in Bihar politics and represented the Assembly segment eight times.

Ramai Ram was also a senior Minister in the Lalu-Rabri Cabinet and won one after another poll contests by mobilising Muslim, Yadavs, and Dalit voters for the RJD.

On Saturday, Bochahan shot into the news for the birth of a new social and political combination in Bihar and the humiliating defeat of the BJP’s candidate Baby Devi at the hands of the RJD’s Amar Paswan. Ramai Ram’s daughter, Geeta Devi, who was fielded by VIP’s Mukesh Sahni, played the role of a big spoiler for the BJP.

A section of Dalit and mallah voters distanced themselves from the BJP to avenge the humiliation heaped on Sahni, who was thrown out of the Nitish Cabinet ahead of the Bochahan poll. The Bochahan result signals the beginning of what could be a tectonic shift in the contour of Bihar politics. The birth of a new caste combination (Bhumihar-Yadavs) could pose a nightmare for the NDA. The result is also an endorsement of Tejashwi Yadav’s “A to Z” political narrative whereby he wants to bring all castes on one platform against the BJP.  The talks of unity between erstwhile sworn enemies Bhumihars and Yadavs dominated the Bihar political discourse after Yadav fielded six Bhumihar candidates in the recent MLC polls for 24 seats.

Three of these candidates won, triggering a major churning in the caste arithmetic of Bihar. If anyone thought that the MLC result was just a one-off event, then the Bochahan outcome came as a confirmation of the emergence of the new caste axis in Bihar. The way Bhumihar leaders of all hues descended on Bochahan to campaign for the RJD candidate and called their caste men to defeat the BJP’s nominee should be a wake-up call for the saffron outfit. The BJP’s s decision to deny a ticket to veteran Sachitanand Rai from Saran in the recent MLC polls turned out to be a blunder. Rai contested as a rebel and retained his seat and also projected himself as a victim of the BJP’s “contempt” for Bhumihars. This was one of the reasons for the revolt of Bhumihars against the BJP.

 Bhumihar leaders are upbeat over the Bochahan result and are ready to make a new beginning with the RJD, leaving behind their bitter relationship with the Yadavs during the Lalu era.

“Lalu Prasad Yadav may have done us some harm, but the NDA has inflicted on us many-time more injuries. The BJP treated us as slaves and its leaders kept saying we have no option because we can’t go to the RJD. Now we are determined to teach them a lesson,” said Ashutosh, the firebrand leader of the Bhumihar community, who has formed a political outfit to represent the aspiration of the upper castes.

“In the MLC polls, Yadav bestowed an honour on us. In the Bochahan by-poll the Bhumihar community returned the favour by securing the victory of the RJD candidate,” says Ashutosh Kumar.

For close to three decades, Bhumihars and Yadavs bayed for each other’s blood in Bihar. The flaming field of Central Bihar saw a number of massacres involving the Ranvir Sena, the powerful private army of landlords comprising mostly Bhumihars, and Yadavs-dominated Naxal outfits. Till some time ago, it would have seemed unthinkable that both Yadavs and Bhumihars would bury their differences and come on one platform to the take on the BJP. But then “politics is the art of the possible, the attainable — the art of the next best”.  Of course, the upper castes in Bihar are disenchanted with the Nitish Kumar-led Government for a variety of reasons. But the distrust between the Yadavs and Bhumihars ran so deep that no one cared to look at the caste churning taking place in the State. “The enemy of my enemy is my friend”, acting on this maxim, the Bhumihars have decided to overlook the fact the RJD opposed reservation for upper castes and Lalu Yadav once infamously gave a call for “ Bhura bal saf karo” (wipe out Bhumihars, Rajputs, Brahmins and Lala. Lala refers to Kaystha caste). The Bhumihars are so upset with the BJP that their youths disrupted the poll campaign of BJP State chief Sanay Jaiswal and other leaders in Bochahan and mobilised support for the RJD in a big way. It would be too early to say if the same trend will continue in the Lok Sabha polls two years from now, but the NDA will have to do a lot of soul searching to mend fences with a caste, that fully backed it for several decades in Bihar.