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Tejashwi Yadav challenges Nitish Kumar’s ‘Luv-Kush’ vote bank as Renu Kushwaha joins RJD, aiming to build a broad caste coalition for the 2025 Bihar Assembly polls
The 2025 Bihar Assembly election is still months away, but the opening moves have clearly been made. (PTI)
The political landscape of Bihar is once again stirring, and at the heart of it lies a bold question – Is Tejashwi Yadav systematically chipping away at Nitish Kumar’s once-formidable ‘Luv-Kush’ vote bank? The recent entry of senior leader Renu Kushwaha into the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) has added weight to this speculation, as Tejashwi continues to build what appears to be a carefully calibrated caste-based coalition ahead of the 2025 Bihar Assembly election.
Once a minister in the Nitish Kumar-led government and an MP from Khagaria, Renu Kushwaha’s political career spans across multiple parties – JDU, BJP, and LJP (Ram Vilas). Her move to RJD, in the presence of Tejashwi himself, is being seen as more than just another high-profile defection. It is a strategic gambit that targets Nitish Kumar’s core political formula – the Kurmi-Kushwaha consolidation, also known as the ‘Luv-Kush’ equation.
Renu’s arrival in RJD has sent a message, that Tejashwi is no longer content with the traditional Yadav-Muslim support base. After reinstating Mandal-era politics with Mangani Lal Mandal, a leader from the Extremely Backward Classes (EBC), as RJD’s state president, he has now moved to pull in the Kushwaha community, among the most politically aware OBC groups in Bihar.
The Koiri/Kushwaha community makes up about 4.2% of Bihar’s population and influences outcomes in more than 70 Assembly constituencies, particularly in eastern districts like Khagaria, Madhepura and Supaul. By bringing Renu on board, RJD seems to be aiming directly at this bloc, a group traditionally seen as leaning towards Nitish Kumar and the JDU.
This move is not without significance. Nitish’s political rise in Bihar was built on the ‘Luv-Kush’ axis – Kurmi (his own caste) and Kushwaha (the caste he has long courted). While Renu Kushwaha may not have a pan-Bihar appeal, her ground-level clout in several constituencies could aid the RJD in splitting Nitish’s vote base where it matters.
Tejashwi himself has not left much to interpretation. “If the Kushwaha community takes one step, I will take four,” he declared while welcoming Renu, an unequivocal signal that his ambitions for a broader social coalition are expanding rapidly.
His approach seems to reclaim the legacy of the Mandal Commission, consolidate Yadav-Muslim votes, draw in EBCs through leaders like Mandal, and now lure away parts of the Kushwaha vote through figures like Renu. Speculation is already rife; will Upendra Kushwaha, another prominent leader from the community and a known critic of Nitish in recent months, be the next to join?
While Tejashwi’s momentum appears to be building, the road ahead is complex. Crafting a ‘Mandal 2.0’ coalition that brings together Yadavs, Muslims, Kushwahas, EBCs, and Mahadalits is easier said than done. Many of these communities have their own local aspirations and rivalries, and translating this social arithmetic into votes will require deft organisation and narrative-building.
Moreover, Nitish Kumar, despite recent political setbacks, still retains a robust organisational base. Backed by the NDA and the electoral machinery of the BJP, his camp remains a formidable force, especially with the BJP’s proven capabilities in resource mobilisation, ground-level campaigns, and digital outreach.
The 2025 Bihar Assembly election is still months away, but the opening moves have clearly been made. With every strategic induction into the RJD, Tejashwi is trying to redraw the caste map of Bihar politics.
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