With an eye on upper caste votes, JD(U) to honour Maharana Pratap
The Hindu
The party will be observing Rashtriya Swabhiman Diwas on January 23 to commemorate the death anniversary of the Rajput king
In a bid to reach out to upper caste voters in Bihar, the Janata Dal (United) will be observing Rashtriya Swabhiman Diwas on January 23 to commemorate the death anniversary of Rajput king Maharana Pratap.
With Rajputs constituting 4% of the upper caste vote bank (12% of the State’s electorate), the party has been trying to win over the community ahead of the Assembly and Lok Sabha polls. On January 19, Chief Minister Nitish Kumar had unveiled a life-size statue of Maharana Pratap in Patna.
Though upper caste voters in the State traditionally voted for the Congress, they shifted their loyalty to the BJP after the Mandal Commission report recommended reservation for the backward classes. Despite several initiatives by the Rashtriya Janata Dal and the JD(U), including the formation of an upper caste commission, the vote bank has remained with the BJP.
The BJP secures the support of upper caste voters but does not do much for their welfare, according to Sanjay Singh, JD(U) MLC and the main organiser of the Rashtriya Swabhiman Diwas. “Upper caste voters have always supported the JD(U) and our leader Nitish Kumar. We have given them more respect than the BJP. In the upcoming elections, JD(U) will be the only party that will give them due respect,” he said.
Over 2.5 lakh Rajputs are expected to participate in the event at which the Chief Minister will be the chief guest and prominent JD(U) leaders such as national president Rajiv Ranjan Singh alias Lalan Singh will be in attendance, says Mr. Singh.
However, the BJP has given more tickets to upper caste candidates. During the 2020 Assembly polls, out of the party’s 110 candidates, 51 were upper caste. In contrast, the JD(U) gave tickets to just 19 upper caste candidates.
“Many political parties try to evoke caste pride in historical figures for the sake of vote-bank politics. But the BJP holds national icons such as Maharana Pratap in high regard irrespective of their caste, region or religion,” BJP spokesperson Nikhil Anand said, adding that the party did not have an issue with the JD(U) organising such an event.
No room for complacency till counting is completed, Chandrababu Naidu tells TDP-BJP-JSP contestants. The TDP-BJP-JSP alliance will register a comfortable victory in the general elections over the YSRCP, he says. Alleging that the YSRCP has conspired to create disturbances on the counting day, the TDP national president advises the chief counting agents and their teams to see to it that the officials adhere to norms related to counting.