Patna: A RJD legislator, Munna Yadav, sparked a controversy on Sunday with his remark that the upper caste people would never be in the “dominating position” in state politics.Talking to a section of media, Yadav, who represents the Minapur (Muzaffarpur) assembly seat in the state assembly, said under Lalu’s leadership, political power shifted permanently to the “Bahujan”. “Well, they can pull the strings from behind and rule by proxy, but they will never be in the front seat,” Yadav told the reporters on Sunday, asserting that “upper caste leaders with surnames such as Mishra, Singh, Sharma, and Jha hold no relevance in the state political landscape.”Stating that the people have come to know about their “haisiyat” (their strength in terms of their vote share), the RJD MLA said the upper caste people would always be on the back foot. “Lalu Ji ne yahi toh kar diya hai ki Bihar ki gaddi par ab jab bhi koi baithega to Bahujan baithega (Lalu Ji has ensured that from now on, whenever someone takes the seat of power in Bihar, it will be from the Bahujan community),” he said.However, he hurriedly retracted his statement as the video of his speech went viral on social media, drawing bitter criticism. “I was quoted out of context. During the past 10 years as a legislator, I was never involved in caste-based politics,” Yadav said on Sunday.Claiming he never passed casteist remarks against anyone in his political career spanning over 35 years, Yadav complained this was part of a conspiracy to destroy his political ambition in the election year, asserting, “I never promoted caste politics.”Prior to him, Lalu had landed in a similar controversy when he allegedly gave a call for “Bhu-Ra-Ba-L saf karo” with ‘Bhu’ standing for Bhumihar, ‘Ra’ for Rajput, ‘Ba’ for Brahmin, and ‘L’ for Kayastha, as political analysts understood at that time. Setting aside such controversies, Lalu’s younger son, Tejashwi Prasad Yadav, has now gone all out to woo all communities. Reacting to the remark of RJD MLA, the JD(U) said it was strange while Tejashwi talks about “A to Z” kind of politics, but his legislator is trying to create social conflict. “The fact is that the RJD has done nothing for the society and now that the elections are drawing closer, its leaders are trying to create social conflict to get votes but this won’t work any more. People want peace in society,” JD(U) spokesperson Neeraj Kumar said, adding such remarks look part of the RJD’s plan to set “poll agenda”. Kumar also dared the RJD leadership to act against the Minapur MLA if it really believed in inclusive politics.Patna: A RJD legislator, Munna Yadav, sparked a controversy on Sunday with his remark that the upper caste people would never be in the “dominating position” in state politics.Talking to a section of media, Yadav, who represents the Minapur (Muzaffarpur) assembly seat in the state assembly, said under Lalu’s leadership, political power shifted permanently to the “Bahujan”. “Well, they can pull the strings from behind and rule by proxy, but they will never be in the front seat,” Yadav told the reporters on Sunday, asserting that “upper caste leaders with surnames such as Mishra, Singh, Sharma, and Jha hold no relevance in the state political landscape.“Stating that the people have come to know about their “haisiyat” (their strength in terms of their vote share), the RJD MLA said the upper caste people would always be on the back foot. “Lalu Ji ne yahi toh kar diya hai ki Bihar ki gaddi par ab jab bhi koi baithega to Bahujan baithega (Lalu Ji has ensured that from now on, whenever someone takes the seat of power in Bihar, it will be from the Bahujan community),” he said.However, he hurriedly retracted his statement as the video of his speech went viral on social media, drawing bitter criticism. “I was quoted out of context. During the past 10 years as a legislator, I was never involved in caste-based politics,” Yadav said on Sunday.Claiming he never passed casteist remarks against anyone in his political career spanning over 35 years, Yadav complained this was part of a conspiracy to destroy his political ambition in the election year, asserting, “I never promoted caste politics.”Prior to him, Lalu had landed in a similar controversy when he allegedly gave a call for “Bhu-Ra-Ba-L saf karo” with ‘Bhu’ standing for Bhumihar, ‘Ra’ for Rajput, ‘Ba’ for Brahmin, and ‘L’ for Kayastha, as political analysts understood at that time. Setting aside such controversies, Lalu’s younger son, Tejashwi Prasad Yadav, has now gone all out to woo all communities. Reacting to the remark of RJD MLA, the JD(U) said it was strange while Tejashwi talks about “A to Z” kind of politics, but his legislator is trying to create social conflict. “The fact is that the RJD has done nothing for the society and now that the elections are drawing closer, its leaders are trying to create social conflict to get votes but this won’t work any more. People want peace in society,” JD(U) spokesperson Neeraj Kumar said, adding such remarks look part of the RJD’s plan to set “poll agenda”. Kumar also dared the RJD leadership to act against the Minapur MLA if it really believed in inclusive politics.
