Post-Mandal, post-Mandir (INDIA)

There is a major political churning underway in North India. The region affected most by the Mandal and Mandir politics of the 1980s and 1990s finally appears to be crossing over to a new phase. From the confrontational caste- and religion-based politics, Uttar Pradesh and Bihar are moving towards the formation of social alliances between erstwhile rivals with fundamentally different interests. With the two states contributing the most MPs to the central Parliament, this change is bound to have an impact on national politics. Those political forces that stick to old exclusivist slogans will miss the bus.

For two decades now, UP and Bihar politics have revolved around mobilisation along one's own caste and religious lines, and have not gone beyond catering to identity-based aspirations. This was important in itself – marginalised groups attained political power and a sense of dignity, which allowed them to stand up to exploitative structures. Laloo Prasad Yadav's decade-and-a-half rule in Bihar was based on a shrewd Muslim-Yadav alliance, and he delivered to his constituency; there was no communal riot in Bihar throughout his rule, and the Yadavs managed to assert themselves as never before. In Uttar Pradesh, Mulayam Singh Yadav relied on the same coalition, while Mayawati stuck to her Dalit constituency – with both giving a sense of empowerment to their supporters, as well as access to administration, and economic and political opportunities.