PATNA: Leader of Opposition in the Bihar Assembly Tejashwi Prasad Yadav on Sunday dared Union ministers Jitan Ram Manjhi and Chirag Paswan to contest elections from unreserved constituencies.
Tejashwi's reaction came a day after Manjhi and his son Santosh Kumar Suman demanded a review of the reservation policy and sub-categorisation of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes.
Reacting to statements by Manjhi and Suman, Chirag Paswan had said that if they talked about the creamy layer, both father and son should resign from their posts as they also come under the creamy layer.
Speaking to media persons after his return from New Delhi, Tejashwi lambasted Manjhi and Chirag over their remarks on reservation quotas, sub-classification and the creamy layer. He also alleged they were making statements “at the behest of the RSS”.
Claiming that the BJP-RSS was trying to divert attention from its “objective” of ending reservation, Tejashwi said the Union ministers' so-called divergent views on sub-quota in reservation were intended to gauge the mood among supporters of reservation.
“Those who have no independent political existence often act under the direction of such a bunch of thoughts,” the RJD national working president said, taking a swipe at Manjhi and Chirag, who are serving as ministers in the Narendra Modi cabinet.
The RJD leader also questioned the political credibility of the two leaders, pointing out that both were elected from reserved constituencies. “If they are so strongly opposed to reservation, let them contest elections from unreserved seats. They will realise the ground reality,” he said.
Attacking the BJP's allies in Bihar, Tejashwi questioned the ideological positions of the parties led by former chief minister Nitish Kumar, RLM leader Upendra Kushwaha, Chirag Paswan and Jitan Ram Manjhi.
“If these parties are supporters of reservation, why do they not get the 65 percent reservation limit increased in Bihar under our government included in the ninth Schedule of the Constitution?” he asked.
The RJD leader accused the NDA leaders of being “opportunistic” and alleged that they were neither committed to increasing reservation nor pursuing ideological politics, but were interested only in remaining in power to secure ministerial positions, security and government accommodation.
Referring to RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat's earlier remarks on reviewing reservation, he contended that Bihar had rejected the idea.
“Bihar had then shown him there was no taker of his (Bhagwat) idea. If they raise the issue again, the people of Bihar will turn the RSS-BJP into a laughingstock,” he remarked.
The reservation issue ahead of the 2015 Bihar Assembly elections had contributed to the BJP's defeat, with the party winning only 54 seats. The BJP had contested the election on its own, as the JD(U) was then part of the RJD-led Mahagathbandhan, or grand alliance.
