Patna: The murder of Dularchand Yadav – an influential figure in the area who was campaigning for Jan Suraaj Party (JSP) candidate Piyush Priyadarshi – in a clash between supporters of Janata Dal (United) candidate and strongman Anant Singh and Priyadarshi – in the Mokama assembly constituency of Patna district appears to be shifting caste dynamics in Mokama and several surrounding constituencies, something that may impact the upcoming elections.

The incident occurred on Thursday (October 30) afternoon, when the convoys of both candidates collided, leading to a clash between their supporters. Stones were pelted and shots were fired from both sides. A bullet struck Dularchand in the ankle and he was later found dead.

Three FIRs have been filed in this case at the local Ghoswari police station – one by Dularchand's family, another by Anant and a third by the police.

Dularchand's family claimed that Anant met him on the way to the latter's rally and hurled abuses at him. When Dularchand protested, he was pulled out of his car. At that very moment, Anant allegedly shot him in the heel of his left foot with a pistol, causing him to fall.

His grandson, Niraj Kumar, told the media: “He was then attacked with a rod by Karmveer and Rajveer, nephews of Anant Singh. Then they drove a car over his body.”

The postmortem report states that several bones in Dularchand's chest were broken, and a ruptured lung caused respiratory obstruction, leading to death.

Dularchand's family has demanded Anant's immediate arrest and also appealed to the police for protection.

Anant denied these allegations, saying to the media: “I was canvassing for votes in the area. At one point, we saw a crowd of people and thought the opposition was canvassing. Thirty of our vehicles had moved ahead, and ten were left behind, which the people attacked. This is all a conspiracy by Suraj Bhan [Singh].”

Strongman Suraj Bhan Singh's wife Veena Devi is the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD)'s candidate from Mokama.

Suraj Bhan said: “This incident is bringing disrepute to the entire country. I request the Election Commission to investigate this matter. An inquiry committee headed by a retired judge should be formed.”

Anant was arrested on Saturday night.

Who was Dularchand?

A resident of Tartar village in the Mokama block's Diara area, 74-year-old Dularchand was drawn to the Communist Party of India (CPI) when he was young because his predominantly Yadav village had dozens of CPI workers.

An old leader of the area told The Wire: “In 1971, the CPI initiated a ‘Bhumi Hadpo Andolan’ [‘Land-Grabbing Movement’] to seize extra land from zamindars, and Dularchand played an important role in it. He emerged as a firebrand worker of the party.”

He reportedly seized about 4,000 bighas of land from Sitaram Singh, a landlord of the Kurmi caste. “Since Sitaram Singh was liberal, he didn’t protest and gave up his claim to the land,” the leader added.

Later, however, cracks developed among Dularchand and his comrades in Tartar over how the seized land should be divided. This dispute led to the killing of two comrades, allegedly by Dularchand.

“This was unacceptable to the party, so we expelled all the workers from Tartar village. They fled to different places. Dularchand began living in Barh and joined the Janata Dal,” another local leader told The Wire.

Dularchand's brother and nephew were later murdered in Begusarai while rearing buffaloes, allegedly by relatives of those killed in the earlier land dispute.

Over time, Dularchand became a strongman, and both Lalu Prasad Yadav and Nitish Kumar sought his support when needed.

In the 1990 Bihar assembly elections, Dularchand wanted to contest from the Mokama seat, but it was given to Dilip Singh, the elder brother of Anant. Dularchand contested instead on a Lok Dal (B) – named for its leader Hemwati Bahuguna – ticket and secured 21,648 votes.

He maintained close ties with both Lalu and Nitish to further his political ambitions.

It is believed that during the 1991 general elections, Lalu requested Ram Lakhan Singh Yadav – who had defected from the Congress to the Janata Dal – not to contest from the Barh Lok Sabha seat and to leave it for Nitish, who had won the seat in 1989. Ram Lakhan Singh agreed, and Dularchand was brought in to mobilise Yadav voters for Nitish, given his strong influence in the community.

During the campaign, both Lalu and Nitish visited his village, where Dularchand welcomed them with a pagdi (turban). The photographs taken at the event became widely discussed.

Senior RJD leader Shivanand Tiwari recalls: “Lalu was not interested in involving Dularchand Yadav; it was Nitish who insisted that they meet him.”

When Lalu Yadav formed his own party, the RJD, Dularchand joined it. In the 1995 assembly elections, he wanted to contest from the adjoining Bakhtiyarpur assembly seat but was denied a ticket. He ran as an independent and secured only 2,545 votes. After that, he never contested elections again.

Like other bahubalis – the local term for strongmen – he too faced accusations of atrocities against the poor.

A die-hard supporter of the RJD, Dularchand was campaigning for the party in assembly seats like Barh, Bakhtiyarpur and Lakhisarai, but in Mokama he supported the JSP candidate due to his old rivalry with the Bhumihars, who are often landowners.

Mokama: from Congress bastion to bahubali stronghold

Mokama – an industrial hub with factories of firms including McDowell's and Bata as well as a wagon manufacturing unit – was once a Congress and communist stronghold. Though the CPI never won the seat, the party had a strong presence on the ground. In the 1962 assembly elections, socialist leader Saryoo Nand Singh won as an independent, but the Congress regained control and held the seat until 1985.

After that, bahubalis dominated the constituency: Dilip Singh, Suraj Bhan, Anant and Neelam Devi (Anant's wife) all won the seat in successive elections.

Seventy-five-year-old Ramnath Shaw, who lives in Mokama and runs a temple said: “It feels bad that once known for factories, Mokama is now infamous for bahubalis and criminal activities. But what can we do?”

Mokama has about 90,000 Bhumihar voters according to local sources, so most of its winning candidates have been from the Bhumihar caste, except for B. Lal, who was from the Dhanuk caste (classified as an extremely backward class or EBC).

Although Anant resides in the Barh assembly seat, he contests from Mokama because of the substantial Bhumihar vote base.

Aftermath of Dularchand's death

Dularchand's death has changed the caste equations in Mokama, locals say.

After coming to power, Nitish made EBCs his vote bank by giving them 50% reservation in panchayat elections. Consequently, the Dhanuks, along with other EBC groups, became loyal to Nitish.

Anant was banking on Bhumihar, Dhanuk and Kurmi voters, who together account for about 1,55,000 votes per local sources. However, this time, Priyadarshi, a Dhanuk by caste, is contesting on a JSP ticket.

A source said: “Priyadarshi has been working in the area for some time, trying to establish himself as a Dhanuk leader. In fact, he contested the 2024 Lok Sabha elections from the Munger seat as an independent. He was trying to get an RJD ticket, but it went to the wife of … Suraj Bhan.”

With the death of Dularchand, who was supporting Priyadarshi, it is believed that Dhanuk voters may no longer support Anant.

Meanwhile, Muslims, Yadavs and Mallahs are said to have 45,000 votes, which are expected to go to Veena Devi of the RJD. She is also likely to get support from Bhumihar voters, as she belongs to that caste and has influence in the urban parts of Mokama.

Apart from Mokama, it is believed that at least three adjoining constituencies – Lakhisarai, Barh and Warisaliganj – may also be affected. Both Lakhisarai and Warisaliganj have a substantial Dhanuk population, who may become polarised against NDA candidates.

This article was edited to correct an estimate for the number of Bhumihar, Dhanuk and Kurmi voters.

The Wire is now on WhatsApp. Follow our channel for sharp analysis and opinions on the latest developments.