‘The time when Yadavs would blindly support the RJD is gone’.

Hajipur, Patna: The much talked about Muslim-Yadav (MY) combination that accounts for nearly 32% population in Bihar and whose sole ownership is claimed by the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD), is likely to be dented this time with the educated youths from the Yadav community giving indications that they are tilting towards Narendra Modi. As per the 2011 census, Yadavs constitute nearly 15% of the total population of the state.

The Sunday Guardian spoke to youths from the Yadav community, mostly first-time voters who have either completed their graduation or are in their final year, to gauge what they thought about the evidence-based perception that the Yadavs of Bihar only vote for Lalu Prasad Yadav and the RJD.

All of them agreed that Lalu Yadav, during his 15-year-rule in the state and subsequently during his time at the Centre, had done a lot for the backward communities in general and the Yadav community in particular, but they also stated in the same breath that now they were looking ahead to vote for individuals who they think were capable of bringing in good governance to the state.

Dinesh Yadav, 25, who is preparing for competitive examinations and whose father has a dairy business in Hajipur, said: “Till 5-6 years ago, we would vote on the basis of whatever we heard from our elders or on the basis of what the general feeling was in the community. That has changed now. This is a national election. We now have access to all kinds of information that we can read and watch without being dependent on anyone else. Those who are educated among us are tilting towards Modi because we have seen with our own eyes the kind of work that has been done by this government, especially when it comes to highways, electricity and building of roads inside the villages. The time when Yadavs would blindly support RJD, especially in a general election, is gone. Next year when the Assembly elections are due, we might vote for the local RJD candidate, but this time we are voting for Modi.”

However, elders in the community are still in favour of the RJD. Jawahar Yadav, 66, who was sitting at a tea stall in the Mahua Assembly constituency of Hajipur, said: “Laluji might not be around this time, but we have not forgotten him. The candidate has still not come here seeking our votes, but we will vote for him because of Laluji, this is probably his last election.”

Political observers feel that now voters are becoming more conscious of things happening in other parts of the country and are willing to forget their caste loyalties and support that force which they feel can work for development in their local area.

Neeraj Shahi, who comes from a prominent pro-BJP family in Hajipur, said: “I believe that at least 30% of Yadavs will this time vote for Modi, not because of issues like Ram temple or ‘Hindu awakening’, but simply because they see the conditions of highways, the status of electricity and when they compare these with the past, they naturally realise that work has taken place. Even if the RJD candidate says that no roads have been built, no one will believe him because the roads are for everyone to see. I have a juice factory and I have workers from different communities and voters from the Yadav community tell me that they are happy with the work done by Modi.”

“The construction of roads, right up to their villages and the presence of electricity have improved their standard of living by many notches. Now, they take buses from even 35 km from Hajipur, work at the factory and go back in the evening. This was unthinkable 5-6 years ago because of the condition of the roads, due to which there were very few options for commuting,” he said.

The fact that the BJP had sufficiently promoted two Yadav faces in the state, Nand Kishore Yadav and Nityanand Rai, too, has helped the BJP in shelving the anti-Yadav image that had come to be associated with it because of the anti-Lalu Yadav stand that the party took in the 1990s and 2000s.