Tejashwi Yadav and Rabri Devi
After Jharkhand, the BJP has now set its sights on its stronghold of Bihar. Reasons why Tejashwi Yadav stayed away from power in Bihar in 2020. Now, Rabri Devi has taken it upon herself to eliminate them. Rabri Devi pushed for the independence of Mithila state during the election year.
If Rabri’s arrow hits the target, the equation in the Bihar Assembly in 2025 can be completely turned upside down.
What are the demands of Mithila State?
Maithili-speaking people live in Darbhanga, Madhubani, Sitamarhi, Samastipur and other areas of Bihar, and are related to North Bihar. Harpur borders Nepal. The first demand for the establishment of Mithila as an independent state was made in 1912. The agitators said they had their own independent province in Treta. King Janak was the king of Videha i.e. Mithila. However, during his time, Nepal was also a part of Mithila.
In 2000, Jharkhand was separated from Bihar and the movement in Mithila gained momentum. At that time, in an attempt to quell the movement, Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s government included Maithili in the Eighth Schedule.
However, despite this, the demand for independent states in these regions has long been rising. Currently, many organizations are running different types of campaigns on this.
Maithier plays kingmaker role in Bihar
Although no leader from Mithila has reached the pinnacle of power in Bihar in the past 34 years, power in Bihar can only be wielded through Mithila. There are two main reasons for this –
1. Mithiranchal’s 4 constituencies have about 40 Assembly seats and 5 Lok Sabha seats. Bihar has 243 assembly seats and requires 122 MLAs to form the government. That is why these 40 seats in Mithilanchal district are considered very important.
2. Mithiranchal’s demographics also play a role. Compared to other parts of Bihar, there is no dominance of any caste here. In Mithiranchal, the Dalit community is also almost equally represented as Brahmins, Muslims, Yadavs and Kushwahars. In addition, small castes such as Nishad and Bania also have a say.
The game was completed in 2020 with Tejashwi
In the 2020 elections, Tejashwi Yadav contested from Mithilanchal, which was leading in Shahabad, Tirhut and Magadh districts. Out of about 40 seats in Mithiranchal, the grand alliance won only 10 seats.
Senior RJD leaders like Abdul Bari Siddiqui, Bhola Yadav, Sitaram Yadav cannot win elections here . Likewise, many Congress leaders lost elections here because they joined the grand alliance.
Tejashwi Yadav could not reach the CM’s chair as Mithiranchal’s strike rate was low. In the 2020 Bihar Assembly elections, the Grand Alliance won 110 seats and the New Democratic Alliance won 126 seats.
NDA busy fortifying fort
The RJD was expected to make a strong comeback in Mithiranchal district in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, but the party lost all Lok Sabha seats here. The NDA alliance won all 5 seats in Mithilanchal. The NDA is now busy strengthening this stronghold.
Recently, the central government laid the foundation stone of AIIMS in Darbhanga. Darbhanga is also known as the power center of Mithila. In addition, the central government also published the Constitution of India in Maithili language.
The BJP is promoting its work in Mithiranchal among the people of Maitil, with slogans including “Jug-Jug Jibu Modi Ji” (Long live Modi Ji).
Rabri takes over as RJD command
The NDA alliance is strengthening its stronghold in Mithila. Now, Rabri Devi has taken over the reins from the RJD side. Rabri’s method is very strict on the state of Mithila. As a result, NDAs may have to re-strategize.
Recently, Tejashwi Yadav announced the establishment of Mithila Development Committee to be responsible for the development of Mithila area, but Tejashwi Yadav’s call did not prove to be very effective. In this situation, Rabri Devi is said to have raised the issue of Mithila State as per the established strategy.
