India, Nov. 1 -- This Bihar election, expectedly, has stirred the pot of caste politics so much that one of the most subaltern caste groups is now under focus. The nomination of Mukesh Sahni as the deputy chief minister candidate for the RJD-Congress+ alliance - if it comes to power -- is perhaps the first time that a person from the Mallah community has been made a key face of a major political formation.

The Mallah community was formerly dependent to a great extent on occupations linked to rivers, from being boatmen (kevat) to fishing and also farming along fertile river banks. They have been aptly called Jal Kisans in the past.

Communities like the Mallahs, Binds, Manjhi, Kewat, Tiyar and Turha and a few other groups traditionally as...