Bihar polls: BJP plays 'Bandit Queen' Phoolan Devi card to lure Mallahs

PATNA: She was not from Bihar and was never a part of BJP. Yet, the legacy of ' Bandit Queen' Phoolan Devi has been invoked by rising Mallah leader Mukesh Sahni to seek support of the Mallah (boatmen) community for the BJP-led alliance in the state.

Phoolan along with another Mallah 'martyr' Jubba Sahni figures right on top of an advertisement put out by Sahni, who proudly proclaims to be the 'son of Mallah', to exhort the community to vote for NDA.

Sahni, who was close to Bihar CM Nitish Kumar but parted ways after being rebuffed over the choice of who should contest from his home seat, was lassoed by BJP chief Amit Shah as part of his maximal outreach towards Mallahs and Nishads -boatmen and fishermen.

The full-page advertisement only justifies Sahni's billing as a prize catch for BJP that is critically dependent on Mallahs, Nishads and other 'extremely backward castes' to neutralize the formidable combination of Muslims, Yadavs and Kurmis who are rooting for the 'secular' grand alliance.

As the campaign enters the final lap, Sahni is in demand from NDA candidates to enlist the support of members of his community .

Besides Sahni, NDA candidates are also benefitting from the solid support another new-found ally, former CM Jitan Ram Manjhi, has fetched from his Musahar community. Apart from bring ing crucial numbers, the support of Mallahs, Nishads and Musahars has been important also in blunting the perception that the elections were becoming an upper-caste versus 'the rest' affair, a scenario that would been a huge ballast for the secular alliance in a state where backwards, Dalits and Muslims make up 70 per cent of the population.

However, another ally Upendra Kushwaha has not been able to secure the support of Kushwahas for the alliance to the same extent, with reports from different parts pointing to a split in the community which accounts for 6 per cent of the population.