There's an old joke in India's eastern state of Bihar: “People don't cast their votes, they vote for their caste.” Caste allegiances have dominated the political landscape of Bihar, a possible swing state in the country's April-May general election, as well as much of India, for decades. But a Hindu nationalist-led alliance hopes to sweep this state known for extreme poverty, crime and corruption on a platform of caste-blind development. Chief Minister Nitish Kumar is selling his campaign as a radical shift from the troubled rule of his predecessor, Lalu Prasad, whose 15 years in power were propped up by caste ties. The battle lines reflect a wider political debate on whether development can convince voters to abandon old loyalties in a country whose recent economic boom has produced a growing middle and urbanized class but has also missed out millions. Like Kumar, the traditionally more pro-market Hindu-nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is betting that its focus on development and good administration in states where it is in power could help them win the general election. “Most of the people are talking about development and no longer about caste,” Nitish Kumar, a BJP ally, said in the state capital, Patna. “Development breaks down all the caste barriers.” The end of the ‘jungle raj' Kumar got his breakthrough in 2005 when he came to power after a state election, but Prasad and his allies still hold the majority of Bihar's 40 seats in the national parliament. If Kumar can build on three years in power, it would boost the main opposition bloc led by the BJP at the expense of one of the ruling Congress party's key allies. Lalu Prasad is a charismatic leader whose trademark humour can make a budget speech sound like routine.
