Triveni Sangh

Some sources have said it was the 1920s but Ashwani Kumar notes recently discovered documentation that makes 1933 more likely,[2] while Christophe Jaffrelot argues for 1934.

[4] The Triveni Sangh was formed in 1934 by the members of the three prominent Backward Castes of Bihar: Yadavs, Koeris, and Kurmis.

[3] The party took part in the 1937 elections and lost may seats, but managed to win at places like Arrah and Piro in Shahabad District.

In the meantime the party was also affected due to double-edged confrontations emerging out of the disunity between the three allied castes, and the superior organisational structure of Congress.

[2] In the second conference of the Sangh held at Ekwaari village, it promised to fight for the cause of the Kisan (peasants), Mazdoor (labourers) and small traders.

When the leaders of backward castes sought to obtain tickets from the Congress for contesting in any elections, they were always denied on the grounds of being ineligible.

According to Hindi novelist Omprakash Kashyap, even if they fulfilled all the grounds for eligibility, they were told that the legislature is not the place where vegetables are sown, cattle bred and milked as well as oil and salt sold.

Its charm after independence faded, but its short span made it clear that the dominance of the upper castes would not sustain forever.

[2] The Triveni Sangh movement of 1930 is said to have sowed the seeds of political consciousness among the Koeri, Kurmi and Yadav castes of Bihar, which are variously described as upper backwards.