A CPI(ML) flag flutters alongside Rashtriya Janata Dal’s laltein (election symbol) as a carefully chosen array of speakers take podium one after the other. The line-up is representative of the caste alliance which the mahagathbandhan has sought to stitch against the NDA in Bihar — Kushwaha, Mallah, Nonia et al. 

However, the RJD candidate in Vaishali— former union minister Raghuvansh Prasad Singh — is an upper caste Rajput. The man was Rural Development Minister and is credited with the implementation of Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA).