Kirar is a Hindu caste of cultivators. [1] They are categorized as an Other Backward Class (OBC) by the Government of India. [1] [2] [3]
Uma Bharti is an Indian politician and former Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh. She became involved with the Bharatiya Janata Party at a young age, unsuccessfully contesting her first parliamentary elections in 1984. In 1989, she successfully contested the Khajuraho seat, and retained it in elections conducted in 1991, 1996 and 1998. In 1999, she switched constituencies and won the Bhopal seat.
The Bahujan Samaj Party is a political party in India that was formed to represent Bahujans, referring to Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes, and Other Backward Classes (OBC), along with religious minorities. According to Kanshi Ram, when he founded the party in 1984, the Bahujans comprised 85 percent of India's population, but were divided into 6,000 different castes. The party claims to be inspired by the philosophy of B. R. Ambedkar, Mahatma Jyotiba Phule, Narayana Guru, Chhatrapati Shahuji Maharaj, and Gautama Buddha.
Harit Pradesh is a proposed new state of India comprising the western parts of the state of Uttar Pradesh. The etymology derives from harit, meaning 'green', and pradesh, meaning 'state'. Other proposed names include Braj Pradesh and Paschim Pradesh. It consists of an area of 79,832 km2, which is 33.14% of UP and a population of 7.42 crores, which is roughly 35-36% of UP.
Babulal Gaur was an Indian politician from Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) who served as the 16th Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh. He was elected ten times to the Madhya Pradesh Legislative Assembly, twice from Bhopal South and eight times from Govindpura. He retired from electoral politics in 2018 due to old age.
Shivraj Singh Chouhan is an Indian politician who is serving as the 32nd Minister of Agriculture and Farmers' Welfare and 23rd Minister of Rural Development since 11 June 2024. He was the Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh from 2020 to 2023 and previously from 2005 to 2018 and a Member of Legislative Assembly in Madhya Pradesh from Budhni since 2006 to 2024 and previously from 1990 to 1991. Chouhan is the longest serving Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh.
Kalyan Singh was an Indian politician and a member of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). He served twice as the Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh and as a Member of Parliament. He was the Chief minister of Uttar Pradesh during the demolition of the Babri Masjid in December 1992. He is considered an icon of Hindu nationalism, and of the agitation to build a Ram temple in Ayodhya.
Kushwaha is a community of the Indo-Gangetic Plain that has traditionally been involved in agriculture, including beekeeping. The term has been used to represent different sub-castes of the Kachhis, Kachhvahas, Koeris and Muraos. Under the Indian government's system of positive discrimination, the Kushwahas are classified as a "Backward" or Other backward class. The Kushwaha had worshipped Shiva and Shakta, but beginning in the 20th century, they claim descent from the Suryavansh (Solar) dynasty via Kusha, one of the twin sons of Rama and Sita. At present, it is a broad community formed by coming together of several caste groups with similar occupational backgrounds and socio-economic status, who, over the time, started inter-marrying among themselves and created all India caste network for caste solidarity. The communities which merged into this caste cluster includes Kachhi, Kachhwaha, Kushwaha, Mali, Marrar, Saini, Sonkar, Murai, Shakya, Maurya, Koeri and Panara.
The politics of Bihar, an eastern state of India, is dominated by regional political parties. As of 2021, the main political groups are Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD), Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Janata Dal (United) (JDU), Indian National Congress (INC), Left Front, Lok Janshakti Party (LJP), Hindustani Awam Morcha (HAM). There are also some smaller regional parties, including Samata Party, Hindustani Awam Morcha, Rashtriya Jan Jan Party, Rashtriya Lok Janata Dal, Jan Adhikar Party and Vikassheel Insaan Party, Lok Janshakti Party and Rashtriya Lok Janshakti Party, which play a vital role in politics of state. As of 2024, Bihar is currently ruled by NDA, after JDU break out from Mahagatbandhan (Grandalliance) coalition and returned to NDA fold.
The Lonia are a Hindu other backward caste, found in Uttar Pradesh and Bihar adjoining areas, who were traditionally involved in salt-digging and salt-making activities. The Lonia are listed as extremely backward caste, along with the Mallaah, Bind and Beldar communities, by state governments. The community leaders have been seeking Scheduled Tribe status for the socially deprived community. It is also spelled as Lunia, or Nonia.
The Lodhi is a community of agriculturalists, found in India. There are many in Madhya Pradesh, to where they had emigrated from Uttar Pradesh. The Lodhi are categorised as an Other Backward Class, but claim Rajput ties and prefer to be known as "Lodhi-Rajput", although they have no account of their Rajput origin or prevailing Rajput traditions.
The Sainthwar, or Mall, is an Indian caste of peasants native to the Uttar Pradesh state. Under the Indian governments system of positive discrimination, the Sainthwars are classified as a "Backward" or Other backward class.
Paras Chandra Jain is a former Cabinet Minister of Energy and New & Renewable Energy in Government. He represents Ujjain North constituency in Madhya Pradesh Assembly, He is a Member of the Legislative Assembly from same constituency since 1990 to 1998 & 2003 to present.
Keshav Prasad Maurya is an Indian politician, currently serving as the Deputy Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh. He is a member of the Bharatiya Janata Party. Maurya was associated with a right-wing Hindu organization Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, before entering active politics through BJP. He was also involved in cow protectionism in his early life. Before 2017 Uttar Pradesh Legislative Assembly elections, he was made state president of the BJP, and after the victory of BJP, he was appointed as Deputy Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh in the first Yogi Adityanath Government. Maurya again contested the legislative assembly elections in 2022 from Sirathu Assembly constituency, losing to Pallavi Patel of Samajwadi Party. However, he was given a second term as Deputy CM in the second Yogi Adityanath government.
Lakkhiram Agarwal was an Indian politician from the Bharatiya Janta Party (BJP). He was a member of the Rajya Sabha from 1990 to 2002 representing Madhya Pradesh and later Chhattisgarh. He was the state president of the BJP in Madhya Pradesh from 1990 to 2000, and became the state president of Chhattisgarh BJP after the bifurcation of Madhya Pradesh.
The Jat reservation agitation was a series of violent protests in February 2016 by the Jat people of North India, especially those in the state of Haryana, which "paralysed" the state for 10 days. The protestors sought inclusion of their caste in the Other Backward Class (OBC) category, which would make them eligible for affirmative action benefits. Besides Haryana, the protests also spread to the neighbouring states, such as Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, and the National Capital Region.
Elections to the Madhya Pradesh Legislative Assembly were held on 28 November 2018 to elect members of the 230 constituencies in Madhya Pradesh. The election was a direct political battle between the BJP and the INC. One of the main centers of attraction was the contest between Congress heavy-weight Arun Yadav and the then Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan. While the Shivraj Singh Chouhan government had tried to win for consecutive 4th term, the INC fought for winning the state after 2003. The election led to a hung assembly, with the INC emerging as the single largest party and the BJP winning the popular vote. After the results, Congress and BSP formed the government with Kamal Nath becoming the chief minister.
In March 2020, a political crisis took place in the state of Madhya Pradesh, India, due to the resignation of 22 sitting MLAs of the Indian National Congress party from the state's Legislative Assembly. It eventually led to the fall of the Kamal Nath government and the subsequent formation of the fourth Shivraj Singh Chouhan government in Madhya Pradesh.
Bharatiya Janata Party, Madhya Pradesh is the affiliate of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) for the state of Madhya Pradesh. The party appointed V. D. Sharma, who took over from Rakesh Singh, as the President of the party on 15 February 2020. On 23 March 2020, Shivraj Singh Chouhan was sworn in as the Chief Minister Of Madhya Pradesh after the Kamal Nath-led government collapsed due to the defection of Jyotiraditya Scindia.
Kushwaha is a surname used by people of Koeri caste in Bihar and Uttar Pradesh. The Kushwahas are also known as Maurya, Shakya, Saini in various parts of north India. As per one opinion, the Kushwaha surname is also common among members of Kachhi caste, who later merged with the Koeris to become a single homogeneous community. They are a dominant OBC community in the state of Bihar.
By now, the people of Madhya Pradesh know that Chouhan is from the Kirar backward caste and was a beneficiary of the BJP's "social engineering" agenda that fostered backward-caste leaders like him, Kalyan Singh and Narendra Modi in the post-Mandal era.