the state, as a section of upper-backwards were also landlords. The participation of middle peasantry or the upper backwards in the class war also remained evident making them involved in a two-front confrontation against both the Dalits, the supporters of naxalite movement as well as the upper-caste, who were admant to keep the status-quo maintained. Besides the ongoing class struggle which became a caste war, the police excesses were also rampant in this period and atrocities by the police force on civilians were recorded. There are incidents of the police force abusing civilians, primarily from the lower castes. There are also incidences in which due to caste affiliation and similar factors, the police personnel have attacked the villages inhabited by the lower-castes after the private armies of the upper-caste landlords perpetrated the massacres during the 1970s. Under Lalu Yadav: 1990–2004 Janata Dal came to power in Bihar in 1990 after its 1989 national victory. Lalu Prasad Yadav became Chief Minister after narrowly winning the leadership contest of the legislative party against Ram Sundar Das, a former chief minister from the Janata Party and close to eminent Janata Party leaders Chandrashekhar and S.N. Sinha. Later, Yadav gained mass popularity with a series of populist measures. The principled socialists, including Nitish Kumar, gradually left him and by 1995, Yadav was both chief minister of the state and president of his party, Rashtriya Janata Dal. He was a popular, charismatic leader. Caste politics of Yadav According to Seyed Hossein Zarhani, though Lalu Yadav became a figure of hatred among Forward Castes, he had much support from backward castes and Dalits. He was criticised for neglecting development but a study conducted during his premiership among Musahars revealed though the construction of houses for them was not concluded at the required pace, they chose Prasad because he returned them their ijjat (honour) and allowed them to vote for the first time. During Yadav's tenure, a number of populist policies that directly impacted his backward-caste supporters, including the establishment of "Charvaha schools" for poor children; abolition of cess on toddy, and the rules protecting backward castes were enforced. Yadav mobilised backward castes through his identity politics. He viewed Forward Castes as elite in outlook and portrayed himself as the "Messiah of backwards" by living the same way as his mostly poor supporters. He continued to live in his single-room dwelling after being elected as Chief Minister,