RJD chief Lalu Yadav says Bihar will see Mandal Raj-2

The ubiquitous caste factor was back on focus in Bihar with RJD chief Lalu Prasad exhorting Yadavs, Dalits and backward communities not to let go of their 25-year-long regime of social justice in the upcoming Assembly elections in the state.

Addressing the Swabhiman rally organised jointly by the Janata Parivar constituents and the Congress at the Gandhi Maidan in Patna on Sunday, Lalu said that nobody had the power to take on the might of the poor, backward and underprivileged castes and communities in the polls.

"When the sons of two backward castes (Lalu and Nitish) have joined hands, they (BJP) are talking about the return of jungle raj," Lalu said. "But we have given voices to the poor. The BJP should remember that our reunion means not jungle raj-II but Mandal raj-II."

Lalu said after he decided to extend support to Nitish, BJP leader Sushil Kumar Modi alleged that the crime graph had gone up in Bihar. "Sushil was actually casting aspersion on the Yaduvanshis, suspecting those who grazed buffaloes."

"The BJP also accused Nitish of being timid. But Nitish showed his courage when he took action against his party's MLA from Mokama (Anant Singh) following the killing of a Yadav boy," he said.

The RJD chief, who had assumed power in Bihar for the first time in 1990, said that an NDA MP had threatened Nitish that he would crush his chest if any action was taken against Anant. "But he forgot that this is not the Bihar of the pre-1990 era," he said. "Now, the people are empowered to give the befitting reply."

Lalu claimed that it was because of his relentless fight for social justice that Narendra Modi, son of a tea vendor, had got his position in the BJP. He also accused the saffron party of trying to divide the Yadav community before the Assembly elections. "There is a bid to split the Yadavs but can they be divided?" he asked. "When the buffaloes have failed to push them (Yadavs) off their backs, how can Modi do so?" he quipped.

Giving a call to the Yadavs not merely to vote Nitish back to power but also to oust the Modi government at the Centre, Lalu said that their fight was against the backwards, extremely backwards, underprivileged and the poor from all sections of society, including the upper castes. "The people of Bihar may be poor but they are not foolish," he added.

He said that Modi had claimed that people learnt a lot of bad things during their stay in the prison. "But Lord Krishna, who was a Yaduvanshi and born in a jail, had killed Kansha," he said while referring to a mythological story.