PATNA: Rebel JD(U) veteran Sharad Yadav on Wednesday stepped up his campaign against party national president and Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar by organising a ‘Dalit Mahapanchayat’ at a village where Kumar’s convoy was attacked by Dalits on January 12 and dubbed Bihar’s NDA government as anti-Dalit.
Lashing out at Kumar in his speech to a large gathering at Nandan village in the western Buxar district, Yadav said the NDA government Kumar heads was not elected by the people of Bihar and that the government’s public welfare programmes had failed miserably.
“Stones thrown by the Dalits have shattered Nitish Kumar’s arrogance. His development model is against the Dalits,” said Yadav, a former JD(U) national president who was disqualified from Rajya Sabha along with fellow MP Ali Anwar for anti-party activities last month.
Before addressing the gathering, the 70-year-old leader spoke with residents of Nandan village about the January 12 attack on the CM’s convoy, for which 38 people, mostly Dalits, were arrested and about 800 others were booked by police. Bihar’s Opposition and NDA partner HAM of former CM Jitan Ram Manjhi had termed the arrests and FIR as persecution of Dalits by the government. Opposition leader Tejaswi Yadav had addressed a rally in the village a few days after the incident.
“If the CM had spoken with the Dalit people of this area, such an unfortunate incident would not have taken place. But he loves his chair more than the state’s people,” said Sharad Yadav, who was accompanied by Ali Anwar, former JD(U) MP Arjun Ram and Ramai Ram, state president of JD(U)’s Sharad faction, among others. Several local RJD leaders and workers were present at the gathering.
Sharad also slammed the Centre for the attacks on Dalits in several places across the country and said the Narendra Modi government’s claims about employment generation are lies.
The event is being widely seen as Sharad Yadav’s effort to woo the Dalits of Bihar. The ruling JD(U) and BJP attacked him bitterly for organising a “meaningless event”.
“The violent attack on the CM’s convoy has been condemned by one and all. The arrests were made after a thorough probe. Sharad is now playing politics by holding this meaningless event in the village where it happened. He will not have any political gains,” said JD(U) spokesperson and MLC Sanjay Singh.
BJP leader Nitin Navin condemned Sharad for “setting a wrong precedent by supporting the villagers’ violent act”. The Opposition Congress leader Premchand Mishra backed Sharad, saying he had every right to visit the village.
Ten Dalit women of Nandan village who were arrested a day after the incident were released on bail on Tuesday as the government did not oppose their bail pleas.