ABSTRACT
This chapter examines the agricultural sector with a view to detecting any evidence of a shift to capitalism. It discusses the political and social aspects of rigidity and change in Bihar, particularly the relationship between caste and politics. The chapter focuses on connecting links between structural change, caste and politics. Over the course of the 1950s and 1960s, caste consciousness gradually turned into political consciousness, as was inevitable, given example of the pathological fixation that the twice-borns had for caste competition among themselves. In the meantime Bihar must contend with a political reality characterized by tension, violence and corruption. Electric power generation is a bit trickier to relate to agriculture as an input, since farming is only one of many uses to which electricity is put; a momentary glance at the data reveals Bihar's position. The Sudra castes in Bihar amounted to perhaps half the total population of the state, so this was a very large constituency indeed.
