By PTI
PATNA: RJD chief Tejashwi Yadav on Tuesday made an aggressive bid to achieve out to the Bhumihar group, a robust higher caste in Bihar, in an apparent try to broaden the assist base of his occasion which has largely been recognized with the MY (Muslim-Yadav) mixture nurtured by his father Lalu Prasad.
The younger chief of the opposition within the state was the cynosure of all eyes on the Parshuram Jayanti organised right here by the Bhumihar Brahmin Ekta Manch, a caste-based organisation, which was additionally attended by many different senior politicians together with AICC in command of the state Bhakt Charan Das.
A sub-caste of the Brahmins, the Bhumihars have their highest focus in Bihar the place they’ve loved super political and financial clout.
They are perceived to be resentful of a diminution of their clout within the post-Mandal period which noticed the emergence of OBC leaders like Prasad and his arch-rival Nitish Kumar, the state’s chief minister for greater than a decade and a half.
“Our party has been a victim of a smear campaign that it is opposed to certain caste groups and favours others,” Yadav stated on the programme to mark the beginning anniversary of Parshuram.
Bhumihars think about Parshuram, a fiery martial ascetic standard within the Hindu folklore and reckoned among the many 10 incarnations of Lord Vishnu, as a cultural icon.
Yadav, whose occasion helms the Grand Alliance comprising the Left, and in addition the Congress which has of late grown ambivalent, had raised many eyebrows when he gave tickets to numerous Bhumihars within the just lately held biennial elections to the legislative council, a few of whom have gained.
Besides, the Bhumihars’ dissatisfaction with the BJP, their first occasion of alternative for practically three many years, is alleged to have swung decidedly within the RJD’s favour within the by-election to the Bochahan meeting section which had develop into a status problem for the saffron occasion.
In his speech, Yadav deftly fished within the troubled waters of the ruling NDA, raking up the much-publicised spat between the chief minister and meeting Speaker Vijay Kumar Sinha, who can also be a Bhumihar, contained in the House.
“Never in the history of Bihar or any other state, a Speaker has been insulted in this fashion,” stated Yadav, taking care to not point out the caste of Sinha or Kumar, who’s a Kurmi, although applause from the crowds steered that he has struck a chord.
A piquant state of affairs arose within the Bihar Assembly on March 14 when the CM and the Speaker had a heated trade over whether or not a matter being probed by the federal government, which has additionally been referred to the privilege committee, could possibly be raised on the ground of the House many times.
“In the 2020 assembly polls, the Grand Alliance’s vote share stood in excess of 40 per cent. The number of votes we polled, across all 243 assembly segments, was just 12,000 less than the NDA. It could have never been possible had we not tried to win the confidence of all sections of society,” stated Yadav.
Reminding the individuals of his ballot promise of 10 lakh sarkari naukri (commissioned authorities jobs), the previous deputy CM identified that the NDA had tried to counter that with a deceptive promise of 19 lakh rozgar (employment) which was but to see the sunshine of the day.
“It was a hectic day, in view of the Eid-ul-Fitr celebrations. But I could not have turned down the invitation of Bhumihar Brahmins, who are an enlightened lot. I assure you that Tejashwi will never let you down,” stated the RJD chief.
He additionally mocked the BJP’s politics of Hindutva with the comment “most positions of power, whether at the Centre or in states, are held by Hindus. Yet they keep crying Hindu khatre mein hain (Hindus are in danger). Please beware of these diversionary tactics.”
The BJP reacted to Tejashwi’s Bhumihar outreach with a palpable sense of alarm.
The occasion’s state spokesman Manoj Sharma got here out with a strongly worded assertion asserting that the individuals of Bihar may always remember the massacres of 1000’s of Bhumihars that allegedly befell when the state was dominated by Lalu Prasad and, subsequently, his spouse Rabri Devi.
