Janata Dal (United) ("People’s Party (United)"),abbreviated as JD(U),is an Indian political party with political presence mainly in eastern and north-eastern India. JD(U) is recognised as a state party in the states of Bihar and Manipur and is a part of government in both the states. JD(U) heads the government in Bihar and is part of the NDA government in Manipur. JD(U) won 12 seats in the 2024 Indian general election,making it the seventh largest party in the Lok Sabha. JD(U) states that they believe in promoting social justice and lifting up marginalized peoples.
The Other Backward Class (OBC) is a collective term used by the Government of India to classify communities that are educationally or socially backward. It is one of several official classifications of the population of India,along with general castes,Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes. The OBCs were found to comprise 52% of the country's population by the Mandal Commission report of 1980 and were determined to be 41% in 2006 when the National Sample Survey Organisation took place. There is substantial debate over the exact number of OBCs in India;it is generally estimated to be sizable,but many believe that it is higher than the figures quoted by either the Mandal Commission or the National Sample Survey.
Although India is a parliamentary democracy,the country's politics has become dynastic or with high level of nepotism,possibly due to the absence of party organizations,independent civil-society associations which mobilize support for a party,or centralized financing of elections. The dynastic phenomenon is present at the national,state,regional,and district level. The Nehru–Gandhi family has produced three Indian prime ministers,and family members have largely led the Congress party since 1978. The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) also has several dynastic leaders. In addition to the major national parties,other national and regional parties such as Shiromani Akali Dal,Shiv Sena,Samajwadi Party,Rashtriya Janata Dal,Janata Dal Secular,Jharkhand Mukti Morcha,Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam,Kerala Congress,Jammu &Kashmir National Conference,Indian Union Muslim League,AIMIM,and the Nationalist Congress Party are all dominated by families,mostly those of the party founders.
Hansraj Ahir is an Indian politician and current Chairman of the National Commission for Backward classes. He is a former Union Minister of State for Home Affairs and Minister of State for Chemicals and Fertilizers in the First Modi Ministry. He was the former member of the 16th Lok Sabha in India. He was member of 11th Lok Sabha,14th Lok Sabha,15th Lok Sabha. He is famous for exposing Coal Mining Scam specially pouni-3 in WCL.
Rajesh Verma is an Indian politician,a member of the Bharatiya Janata Party and former Loksabha Member of Parliament. He was elected to the 13th Lok Sabha in 1999,the 14th Lok Sabha in 2004,the 16th Lok Sabha in 2014 and the 17th Lok Sabha in 2019 from Sitapur constituency in Uttar Pradesh state. In 2019 he won his fourth 4th election in Sitapur as a BJP candidate by 101,000 votes. He lost his Loksabha MP seats in 2024 Indian General Election from Sitapur.
Satya Pal Singh Baghel is an Indian politician and Memeber of Parliament (Loksabha). A member of Bharatiya Janata Party,he got elected to 17th Lok Sabha from Agra and again to 18th Lok Sabha from the same constituency. He previously was a member of Samajwadi Party,in which he got elected to Lok Sabha thrice and to Rajya Sabha once as a member of Bahujan Samajwadi Party.
Sharad Yadav was an Indian politician from the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) party. He was elected to the Lok Sabha seven times and to the Rajya Sabha four times from JD(U). He was the first national president of Janata Dal (United),serving from its formation in 2003 until 2016. He was disqualified from the Rajya Sabha in 2017 and removed from party leadership positions for engaging in anti-party activities.
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.
Captain Ajay Singh Yadav is an Indian National Congress politician from the state of Haryana,India. As of 2008 he was the Minister of Power,Forests and Environment and was formerly minister of Irrigation,Revenue and Elections for that state. In February 2022,he was appointed the National Chairman of Other Backward Class department of the All India Congress Committee.
Nai,also known as Sain is a generic term for occupational castes of barbers. The name is said to be derived from the Sanskrit word nāpita (नापित). In modern times Nai in northern India refer to themselves as "Sain" instead of Nai.
Dara Singh Chauhan is an Indian politician,currently serving as member of legislative council,and formerly represented the Madhuban in Uttar Pradesh as a member of Bharatiya Janata Party. He was former Cabinet Minister in Yogi Adityanath ministry. He also represented Ghosi in the 15th Lok Sabha,where he was leader of the Bahujan Samaj Party. In 16th Lok Sabha,he was defeated by Harinarayan Rajbhar who represented Bharatiya Janata Party by more than 140,000 votes.
Upendra Kumar Singh,commonly known as Upendra Kushwaha is an Indian politician,and a former Member of Bihar Legislative Council and Bihar Legislative Assembly. He has also served as Minister of State for Human Resources and Development in the Government of India. Kushwaha is a former Member of Parliament (MP) from the Karakat constituency in Rohtas district,Bihar,and a former member of the Rajya Sabha. He was the leader of Rashtriya Samata Party (RSP),his own party,which merged into Janata Dal (United) (JDU) in 2009. Later,he formed Rashtriya Lok Samata Party (RLSP),which also merged with JD(U) in 2021. On 20 February 2023,Kushwaha resigned from all positions in Janata Dal (United) and formed his own party called Rashtriya Lok Morcha due to his political problems with JD(U) and Nitish Kumar.
The Legislative Assembly election was held over five phases in Bihar through October–November 2015 before the end of the tenure of the prior Legislative Assembly of Bihar on 29 November 2015.
Arun Singh is an Indian politician who holds the position of National General Secretary and Head Quarter In-charge of Bharatiya Janata Party. Singh is currently serving his second term as the Member of Parliament,Rajya Sabha. Over the period,Singh has discharged the responsibility as BJP's State Incharge of various states,including Andhra Pradesh,Rajasthan,Karnataka,Odisha,Jharkhand and Ladakh.
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.
The Mahagathbandhan,or MGB,or simply the Gathbandhan (Alliance),was an anti-Congress,anti-BJP,Indian political alliance formed in the run-up to the 2019 general election under the leadership of two former Chief Ministers of Uttar Pradesh,Akhilesh Yadav of the Samajwadi Party and Mayawati of the Bahujan Samaj Party,along with Ajit Singh's Rashtriya Lok Dal.
The One Hundred and Second Amendment of the Constitution of India,officially known as the Constitution Act,2018,granted constitutional status to the National Commission for Backward Classes (NCBC).
The 2024 Indian general election was held in Bihar in all 7 phases from 19 April to 1 June to elect 40 members of the 18th Lok Sabha,with the results declared on 4 June.
Shakya is an Indian surname and is part of the broader Kushwaha community including other surnames like Maurya,Kachhi,Saini,Koeri etc,who collectively assert descent from Kusha,a son of the avatar of Vishnu,Rama. This caste group is considered as one of the most numerous OBC castes in the states of Uttar Pradesh and Bihar. It is estimated that they are distributed across the states,in almost all assembly constituencies. In Uttar Pradesh,they have preponderance in Etah Lok Sabha constituency.
Saini is an Indian surname,used by various communities in North India. In Uttar Pradesh,it is used by people of Kushwaha or the Koeri caste. In Rajasthan and Haryana,it is most often associated with Mali caste. Saini is also a community of Punjab,included in state's list of Other Backward Class from 2016 onwards. In Haryana term Saini is considered synonymous with other terms such as Koeri,Kushwaha,Maurya and Shakya,all included in state's list of Backward Castes.
Bhartiya Janta Party