The more important side to the Bihar drama should be seen in the context of the social reality - the caste factor - that continues to guide the political discourse in ... Bihar and whose relevance had increased manifold after August 8, 1990, the day on which Mr. V.P. Singh's Cabinet at the Centre decided on partial implementation of the recommendations of the Mandal Commission.

For, with this began a new era in Bihar's socio-political discourse where the Bhumihars and Rajputs – the social elite - were replaced by ... the intermediate castes.

The increasing clout of this social group – particularly the Yadavs - was not restricted to the political discourse alone. More than the displacement suffered by the Bhumihar-Rajput elite in the realm of politics, the Mandal era also witnessed these traditional owners of land being dispossessed of their holdings by the elite among the intermediate castes ...

This new social reality had an echo on the political plane too as these changes in Bihar and ... Uttar Pradesh were taking place at a time when the Congress(I) was seen to be losing its base in several other parts of the country; and it was only natural for the traditional elite in Bihar -who until then constituted the Congress(I)'s muscle in all sense - to adopt the BJP.

That the BJP replaced the Congress(I) against the socialist" platform in Bihar was borne out by the results of the 1991 general elections, when the BJP registered impressive gains at the cost of the Congress(I). This pattern was repeated in the Assembly elections in 1995 and the general elections in 1996 too.

However, this pattern was reversed, though only to a limited extent, in the last general elections when the Congress(I) seemed to be reviving particularly in Northern Bihar. ...

This process - the revival of the Congress(I) with a section for the rural elite in North Bihar returning to the fold - has become a distinct possibility at least after the Congress(I)'s declaration at Pachmarhi. By declaring the party's aversion to regional parties - Mr. Laloo Prasad Yadav and Mr. Mulayam Singh Yadav - the Congress leadership had sent signals to the estranged upper caste social base.

And this new reality was having its impact within the ... BJP and the Samata party as well.

After having carved out a constituency for themselves on the single-point programme of "showing-Laloo-his- place" (this in actual terms meant wresting the political leadership from the Yadavs), letting the Rabri Devi Government continue was bound to cost the BJP-Samata combine the support of all those opposed to the Mandal plank. ...

And the somersault by Laloo Yadav on the Vananchal issue, whipping up passions against bifurcation of Bihar, was perhaps the last straw for the BJP and the Samata Party

Their social base built up on the promise of restoring their power to the Bhumihas and the Rajputs (and also the assurance to the Kurmis that they too will be accommodated in the new alignment) could not be retained much longer if Mrs. Rabri Devi was allowed to continue.

The traditional elite was clearly feeling cheated by the BJP-Samata combine ..

In this sense, the Vajpayee Government's decision to sack Rabri Devi's Government was clearly aimed at reversing the changes brought about in Bihar's political discourse in what can be called the Mandal era. ...

Also, the traditional elite, to whom government contracts went for so many years, have now been replaced by a new generation of contractors from among the intermediate castes. A reversal of fortunes is only possible through a change of guard in Patna.                    (Source: The Hindu, 26 September, 1998)