For instance, in spite of the larger than life presence of C. Rajagopalachari, Kamraj never suffered from any inferiority complex about Brahmin hegemony in the higher echelons of Tamil life. He never tried to emulate Brahmins, nor was he eager to get a certificate of approval from them. He never felt shy to aggressively promote the interest of marginalised groups and his own backward Nadar caste. Even with limited educational endowment, he had developed a clear theoretical construct on how to take the state and its subaltern groups forward. As a result, in the last half century, several entrepreneurs from a subaltern background, specially from among the Nadars, have touched the pinnacle as market players. Kamraj was conscious that he could not have choreographed a Tamil resurgence with the limited knowledge base within the social ranks of the subalterns. Yet, even though he had a string of upper caste advisers, he did not allow a superstructural divide to develop in the state and thus forestalled any contemptuous descriptions of his regime as a ‘Brahmin shasan’. Later, even a Brahmin leader like Jayalalithaa had to reinvent herself as a subaltern icon to rule Tamil Nadu for several terms.

Unfortunately in the Hindi heartland, Lalu and Mulayam Singh Yadav, after promoting subaltern empowerment, lost their ideological focus. In the absence of one- or two-party hegemony, the marginalised traditional feudal forces opted for the electoral poaching of subaltern icons to effect a backdoor entry into the power structure. In the absence of Kamraj-like quality of subaltern leaders in the Hindi heartland, these feudal and upper caste lateral entrants started exercising disproportionate hegemony in the governance. Unfortunately for Bihar, even the feudals here were not worth imitating. They could not develop themselves as icons because of their negligible contribution in the realm of development, culture, art or even governance. In contrast, some of the princely states had a sterling track record in those spheres. If the princely states of Travancore-Cochin had not promoted literacy in Kerala and that of Baroda had not helped in the education of B.R. Ambedkar, the education project and subaltern empowerment in India may have taken a completely different trajectory.

... contd.