Calling for a fresh outreach to the “ati-pichhdey”, or Extremely Backward Classes, by his party RJD, Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Tejashwi Yadav today told the party's leaders that “there is nothing wrong with bowing”.
He also cautioned them against statements that "may benefit the BJP" — a rather curt order not to speak out of turn against partner JDU of Chief Minister Nitish Kumar.
“You will need to change your nature,” he said, speaking in Hindi, at the RJD national meet in Delhi, “You know, that's not a big task.”
“When you go to the homes of lower castes, to those who are on the last rung of society, you must know that you have to protect them,” he said, and then urged those present to affirm that “you will be with them in times good and bad”. He got a loud cheer.
The Extremely Backward Classes (EBCs) are among a focus demographic for Nitish Kumar, while the RJD was founded by Tejashwi's father Lalu Yadav as part of new assertion by the Other Backward Classes (OBCs) in the 1990s.
Nitish Kumar recently revived the JDU-RJD alliance after dumping the Centre's ruling BJP, which means social equations are being revived or redrawn too, ahead of the Lok Sabha contest in 2024 and the assembly elections the year after that.
The RJD has, in the past, faced allegations of ignoring those below the OBCs on the caste ladder — hence, the fresh outreach.
“Let's do what we used to in the 1990s. Let us bring people together,” Tejashwi Yadav said today, “Remember, our party is a party of A to Z — be it backward, extremely backward, Dalits, minorities, of any caste or religion.”
He underlined that his father, RJD chief Lalu Yadav, has implemented caste reservation within the party, “a first by any party”.
Advertisement“The BJP has a problem with this,” he alleged, “But even the Savarna classes (Upper Castes) are now speaking of issues, such as unemployment, openly."
He claimed the RJD got support from Upper Castes too in the 2020 assembly polls.
Advertisement"The only thing that can defeat communalism and the BJP, it is socialism, which is what we stand for," Tejashwi Yadav said.
"We must understand, regional parties must not fight among themselves. That'll be absolutely stupid. I want to tell you, those of us who speak against our partners benefit the BJP. That's how it is now — you are either against the BJP, like we are, or you're with it."
AdvertisementBefore ending his speech, he paid tributes to Mulayam Singh Yadav, the socialist veteran from UP who died today. He, too, was one of the leaders who emerged from the backward communities' assertion, along with Lalu Yadav and Nitish Kumar, over three decades ago.
