PATNA: Bihar Opposition leader Tejashwi Prasad Yadav on Saturday appealed to the public to give him a chance by voting in a Mahagathbandhan (Grand Alliance) government in the upcoming October-November assembly elections.
Speaking at the EBC Jagao Rally in the state capital, Tejashwi said that if the Grand Alliance comes to power, his government would take swift action against wrongdoers, jail the corrupt, and deal firmly with criminals.
Hitting out at the NDA government led by chief minister Nitish Kumar, the former deputy chief minister said that corruption was at its peak and criminals were ruling the roost. The government has failed to deliver justice to people, he alleged.
He exhorted people to uproot the 20-year-old government in Bihar, which has lost both its credibility and relevance. “This is the right time to uproot the NDA government. The new government will give due representation and dignity to extremely backward classes (EBCs),” he asserted.
He exuded confidence that NDA would not return to power in 2025 assembly elections.
“People will change this ‘khatara’ government,” he said, adding that the majority of people who migrate from Bihar to other states in search of livelihood were from EBC. He claimed that people were fed up with rising incidents of crime and corruption prevalent in government offices. “No work is done in the government offices without paying bribes to the officials and employees. But the government is silent on the issue,” he claimed.
Tejashwi, however, credited his father and RJD chief Lalu Prasad for empowering the EBCS in Bihar. He alleged that before Lalu came to power, people from EBCs were denied their basic rights. “It was Lalu ji who fought for their rights,” he claimed.
“Before the 1990s, people from EBCs could not wear slippers, draw water from wells, ride horses at weddings, or even wear new clothes. Lalu Prasad gave them these rights. He made many people MLAs, MPs and ministers,” he added.
RJD leader promised greater political representation for EBCs this time, stating that RJD would give more election tickets to candidates from this community than ever before. “If you take one step, we will take four, we will take sixteen. I am here to do politics till I am 75 and not for five years,” he asserted.
He emphasised that his aim was long-term structural work for upliftment of marginalised communities and not short-term political gains.