{"id":356539,"date":"2025-09-14T14:30:41","date_gmt":"2025-09-14T09:00:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/tehelka.com\/?p=356539"},"modified":"2025-09-14T14:31:55","modified_gmt":"2025-09-14T09:01:55","slug":"bihar-elections-decoding-rajiv-pratap-rudy-pitching-rajput-pride-issue-with-nishikant-dubey","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tehelka.com\/bihar-elections-decoding-rajiv-pratap-rudy-pitching-rajput-pride-issue-with-nishikant-dubey\/","title":{"rendered":"Bihar elections\u2014Decoding Rajiv Pratap Rudy pitching Rajput pride, issues with Nishikant Dubey \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The implications for BJP can be significant, the public spat between Rudy and Dubey revealed the tensions within BJP\u2019s own ranks, how the senior BJP leadership is viewing it is anyone\u2019s guess  <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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BJP\u2019s Rajiv Pratap Rudy is no stranger to Bihar\u2019s shifting political sands, but this poll\u2019 season Saran MP seems to be trying a new reinvention. On the ground in Saran, he reportedly rallied his Rajput community with the slogan of \u201cJai Sanga\u201d to give it a distinct identity. The slogans were also heard in Delhi, after he weathered a fierce contest against Sanjeev Balyan for retaining control of the prestigious Constitution Club of India (CCI)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Together, these moves sketch out a politician preparing both for the street battles of Bihar and the corridors of Lutyens\u2019 Delhi. Rudy is trying to position himself as indispensable\u2014a leader of Bihar\u2019s Rajputs and around someone politicians across the party lines can rally. At the same time, the events also seem to be signalling a divide in the BJP, which no party leader will publicly acknowledge, obviously     <\/p>\n\n\n\n

At a gathering in Ekma during his Rana Sanga Yatra<\/em>, Rudy was quoted as saying: \u201cOther castes have leaders\u2014Yadavs have Lalu, Kurmis have Nitish, Dalits have Paswan\u2014but Rajputs have none,\u201d he said appealing to supporters not to vote for any party \u201cwithout a guarantee of work\u201d and asked each Rajput to spread his message to three others daily for the next six months.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Caste politics<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Rudy is someone who has never done this, despite caste being the organising principle of politics in Bihar. By invoking Rana Sanga, he is offering Rajputs both pride and direction, hoping to emerge as their undisputed face within the NDA coalition.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But Rudy\u2019s maneuvering is not limited to Bihar. In August, he defeated Sanjeev Balyan in the CCI election for Secretary (Administration), winning by about 100 votes with support from both BJP colleagues and opposition MPs. The contest, ostensibly about club management, quickly became a proxy for influence within Parliament. Balyan later complained that opposition MPs had rallied behind Rudy, while Rudy countered that his victory was proof of his ability to deliver across party lines.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Nishikant Dubey angle<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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There was another controversy surrounding fellow BJP MP Nishikant Dubey who supported Balyan\u2014Rudy\u2019s opponent\u2014in the Constitution Club election. Rudy reportedly claimed that Dubey was not asked by, nor had blessings from, BJP leadership to oppose him and accused him of \u201carrogance.\u201d Rudy did not stop there, according to reports, he also alleged that Dubey behaves in Parliament as if he is running his own \u201cgovernment\u201d separate from the actual government\u2014one in which senior leaders like him have no role.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The public spat revealed the tensions within BJP\u2019s own ranks, even as Rudy sought to present himself as someone who is trusted beyond party lines.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Bihar\u2014what next<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The implications for Bihar can be significant.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Rudy\u2019s Rajput gambit is meant to give him a loyal caste base comparable to Nitish Kumar\u2019s Kurmis, Lalu Prasad\u2019s Yadavs, and the Paswan family\u2019s Dalits. His CCI victory strengthens his claim as a leader with clout in Delhi, yet there may be risks\u2014”Jai Sanga\u201d may be perceived as sidelining the BJP\u2019s Hindutva plank. Still, Rudy is betting that in Bihar\u2019s caste-driven chessboard, the time has come for Rajputs to speak in one voice\u2014and that he should be the one leading them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How this works for him and BJP in Bihar\u2019s shifting political sands remains to be seen but the latest tussle within the BJP has once again brought the party\u2019s internal politics into the spotlight. . For the party leadership, the situation is particularly challenging at a time when the BJP is trying to strengthen its strategy in states like Bihar and Jharkhand.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The implications for BJP can be significant, the public spat between Rudy and Dubey revealed the tensions within BJP\u2019s own ranks, how the senior BJP leadership is viewing it is anyone\u2019s guess   BJP\u2019s Rajiv Pratap Rudy is no stranger to Bihar\u2019s shifting political sands, but this poll\u2019 season Saran MP seems to be trying a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":187,"featured_media":355707,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[2915,1801],"tags":[17301,16188,19726],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/tehelka.com\/rest-api\/wp\/v2\/posts\/356539"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/tehelka.com\/rest-api\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/tehelka.com\/rest-api\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tehelka.com\/rest-api\/wp\/v2\/users\/187"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tehelka.com\/rest-api\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=356539"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/tehelka.com\/rest-api\/wp\/v2\/posts\/356539\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":356542,"href":"https:\/\/tehelka.com\/rest-api\/wp\/v2\/posts\/356539\/revisions\/356542"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tehelka.com\/rest-api\/wp\/v2\/media\/355707"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/tehelka.com\/rest-api\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=356539"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tehelka.com\/rest-api\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=356539"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tehelka.com\/rest-api\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=356539"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}