and politics. The 2011 Census of India indicated that Scheduled Castes constituted 15% of Bihar's 10.4 crores population. The census identified 21 of 23 Dalit sub-castes as Mahadalits. The Mahadalit community consists of the following sub-castes: Bantar, Bauri, Bhogta, Bhuiya, Chaupal, Dabgar, Dom (Dhangad), Ghasi, Halalkhor, Hari (Mehtar, Bhangi), Kanjar, Kurariar, Lalbegi, Musahar, Nat, Pan (Swasi), Rajwar, Turi, Dhobi, Chamar and Dusadh. The Paswan caste was initially left out of the Mahadalit category, to the consternation of Ram Vilas Paswan. Scheduled Tribes constituted around 1.3% of the Bihari population. They include the Gond, Santhal and Tharu communities. There are about 130 Extremely Backward Castes (EBCs) in Bihar. Religion According to the 2011 census, 82.7% of Bihar's population practiced Hinduism, while 16.9% followed Islam. Bihari politics The politics of Bihar is influenced by caste and religion based consciousness to a large extent. The upper castes dominated the politics and political parties till 1967. But after 1967, the resurgence of middle castes took place and the castes like Koeri, Yadav and Kurmi replaced the upper castes in political scenario. Some Dalit caste like Paswan and Chamar also performed well in politics, Bhola Paswan Shastri and Ram Sundar Das were former Chief Ministers from respective caste and Jagjivan Ram became Deputy Prime Minister and first Labour Minister of India. Since 1990, the Politics of Bihar is dominated by regional political parties like Janata Dal (United) and Rashtriya Janata Dal, while a number of small parties like Rashtriya Jan Jan Party, Plural party, Rashtriya Lok Samta Party and Jan Adhikar Party are also active. Bihari sub-nationalism In 1923, a special session of the Congress took place in Delhi. During this session, an issue of sitting arrangement came up whereby the delegates from Bihar were not given seats in the front row. Maghfoor Ahmad Ajazi registered his objection to this discriminatory arrangement after which Bihari delegates were also given appropriate seats. His protest was admittedly on the issue of self-respect of the Biharis. According to social scientist Dr. Shaibal Gupta, the beating of students from Bihar in Mumbai in October 2008 has consolidated Bihari sub-nationalism. See also Anti-Bihari sentiment Bihari diaspora Bihari Mauritian List of people from Bihar List of people from Jharkhand References Bibliography Indo-Aryan peoples Bihar Social groups of Pakistan Ethnic groups in Bangladesh Ethnic groups in India