India, Nov. 14 -- For Bulbul Devi, who works at Jeevika Ki Rasoi - a canteen run by Jeevika Didis in Tarapur, from where Bihar's deputy chief minister Samrat Chowdhary won - the Nitish Kumar government's support has been crucial in providing her with a livelihood.

She belongs to the Tanti Samaaj, one of the approximately 112 Extremely Backward Class (EBCs) that account for 36% of the State's population as per the caste census conducted in 2022 and the report released in 2023. Nearly 10% of Muslims identified themselves as EBCs, meaning Hindu EBCs account for 26%. This is the biggest voting bloc in Bihar.

A few months before the polls, a Pan Samaaj leader, I. P. Gupta, held a meeting at Tarapur and warned the EBCs that they would be shif...