Beni Prasad Verma’s departure from the Samajwadi Party to set up his own Samajwadi Kranti Dal (SKD) may not make a big impact in the coming Uttar Pradesh assembly elections but it is being seen as the beginning of the “Biharification” of UP politics that could eventually end Mulayam Singh Yadav’s hegemony over the crucial OBC vote.

The post-Mandal politics in the adjoining states of Bihar and UP have followed similar trajectories and the larger “Janata parivar” has begun to draw parallels between Nitish Kumar’s exit from Lalu Prasad Yadav’s fold in 1994 with Verma’s decision to break ties with Mulayam earlier this month.

Just as Nitish was Lalu’s closest lieutenant till he broke away from the Janata Dal, Varma was the clear No. 2 and a founder member of the Samajwadi Party. Moreover, both belong to the Kurmi caste—the second most numerically strong OBC after the Yadavs - and both have a clean image and a reputation for administrative efficiency.

If Nitish and Verma have many things in common, the parallel between Lalu and Mulayam is equally striking. Although the two have very different personalities, both emerged as mass leaders in the post-Mandal churning that engulfed north India in the late 1980s and early 1990s and owe their rise to the OBC consolidation that took place at that time. The entire OBC spectrum backed their leadership and not just the numerically preponderant Yadavs.

“But both Lalu and Mulayam let down their supporters, especially the non-Yadav OBCs,” said a JD(U) insider. Despite their socialist background, both leaders indulged in nepotism, were embroiled in corruption scandals and operated more like petty Yadav chieftains than leaders championing social justice, their erstwhile colleagues feel.

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