The 45-year-old Nabin was, until now, an unknown name in Delhi’s power corridors and a barely known entity on the national political stage. Even within Bihar, he was among the lesser-known leaders of the BJP. His appointment as working president is all the more surprising because it does not fit in with the party’s recent efforts to expand its influence beyond the privileged castes and reach out to the Other Backward Classes. Nabin belongs to the Kayastha community which, according to the Bihar caste census of 2023, comprises just 0.6 per cent of the State’s population and is already a committed support base of the BJP.