Yadav was the key factor in this election who raised the popular slogan of "Mandal versus Kamandal", a slogan popular in 1990 when BJP responded to the politics of quota for the backward castes with its communal politics in order to subdue caste-based identity under the unique Hindu identity. Going a step further, Yadav demanded 60% reservation for the lower castes employed in the private sector and the contract jobs. During the election campaigning set in the charged political atmosphere of 2015, the caste and religion-based mobilisation of the voters began. Yadav's remarks in which he argued that some Hindus eat beef provided an opportunity to the BJP which instigated the Hindus, including the Yadavs to vote the grand alliance out of power. Narendra Modi himself made this remark a campaign issue and attacked Yadav in his rallies. In due course, the BJP arranged its leaders and Bollywood superstars for its election campaigning, all of them remaining critical to Kumar's rule and the criticism of the grand alliance was made in every rally by the BJP leaders and their star campaigners to which Kumar left Yadav to defend himself. The narrative of "Bade Bhai" (big brother), the word used by Kumar for Yadav was also popularised. It is believed that the BJP's rise under Modi in 2014 General Elections was a counterrevolution against the Mandal gains. According to Jaffrelot, the rising to power of BJP led to the return of upper castes in urban politics with nearly 45% of the BJP Member of Parliament belonging to the upper-caste, a consequence of this over-representation was the disproportionate ticket distribution plan of the BJP. The return of the upper castes to politics also revived some of their orthodoxy and ethos via state vigilantism. One of the evident strategies of BJP to counter Mandal gains was the restructuring of quota rules to the benefit of upper castes which includes the lateral entry and privatisation as Jaffrelot sums up. A Times of India report called this alliance as the attempt to revive Triveni Sangh, a pre-independence alliance of three middle peasant castes, which was called as the first attempt of the backward communities to unite under an organisational structure, in order to seek political representation. Based on the input of the political thinkers from Bihar, the report called the Yadav-Kumar alliance, the coalition of middle castes who were traditionally involved in agricultural and allied