Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Sunday accused Bihar's Nitish Kumar government of deliberately showing inflated numbers of Muslims and Yadavs in the state's caste survey as part of its "appeasement politics" while giving a "raw deal" to backward classes as a whole.
Addressing a rally at Patahi in Muzaffarpur district, Shah also charged the Nitish Kumar government with "Muslim appeasement (tushtikaran)" and warned that this could lead to "big trouble" in areas bordering Nepal and Bangladesh (seemant kshetra). Widely regarded as the BJP's principal strategist, Shah pointed out that his party was sharing power with Nitish Kumar when the government in the state had ordered the caste survey.
"But we had no inkling what Nitish Kumar would do under pressure from (RJD president) Lalu Prasad. The population of Yadavs and Muslims has been inflated (abaadi badhaa kar dikha diya). And injustice (anyay) has been done to OBCs (pichhda) and EBCs (ati pichhda)," said Shah. The former BJP president also alleged that the Congress, which has likened the survey to an "x-ray of society" and vowed to hold a nationwide caste census if it was voted to power, "has always been hostile towards OBCs".
Reeling out names of Bihar towns such as Sasaram, Bihar Sharif, Purnea, Katihar and Bhagalpur, which have in recent times witnessed minor communal incidents, the Union home minister said, "In these places and, in fact, the whole of Bihar, a politics of Muslim appeasement is on display." "If an end is not put to this politics of appeasement, we may be in for big trouble (bahut badi dikkat) in the seemant kshetra (border areas)," said Shah.
Attacking the opposition INDIA alliance, of which both JD(U) and RJD are key members, Shah alleged that the only agenda of the bloc is to oppose Prime Minister Narendra Modi. He also lambasted the INDIA coalition's constituents for having opposed the abrogation of Article 370 and the construction of the Ram temple at Ayodhya.
"They had said blood would spill on streets if Article 370 was scrapped. We went ahead. Nobody dared to hurl even a pebble (koi kankad bhi nahin pheka)," said Shah. He also invited the people of Bihar to visit Ayodhya on January 22 next year when the newly constructed temple will be inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
"The people of Bihar have voted for Modi overwhelmingly in the last couple of elections. In 2019, you gave the NDA 39 out of 40 seats in the state. This time help us win all the constituencies," urged Shah. The Union home minister, who spoke for close to 20 minutes, began his speech by extending advance greetings for Chhath, the most popular festival of Bihar which falls a week after Diwali.
In a state where the party is seen as largely pro-upper caste, Shah also spent a significant part of his speech highlighting the steps taken by the Modi government for the betterment of OBCs. He pointed out that the Union Council of Ministers had 27 people from the backward classes, which was roughly 35 per cent of the total strength. He also stressed that the National Commission for OBCs got constitutional status under Modi's rule and Lalu Prasad "failed to get the same done despite being in the Congress-led UPA which ruled the country for 10 years".
Shah also used "palturam" (a person who frequently switches sides) to attack Nitish Kumar for having dumped the BJP to join the opposition camp. "Nitish Kumar should stop dreaming about becoming the next PM... that will never happen. The INDIA alliance did not even make him its convener. He is responsible for bringing back 'Gundaraaj' (rule of goons) in Bihar. 'Palturam' betrayed people's mandate by joining the Mahagathbandhan in 2022," he said.
Last year, the JD(U) severed ties with the BJP and joined the Mahagathbandhan alliance comprising Congress, RJD and Left parties. He said the alliance of archrivals Kumar and Prasad was like an attempt to mix "oil with water" and claimed that the JD(U) leader has begun to feel stifled and has been "seeking a way out".
"This is the reason why Nitish Kumar has started attacking the Congress. But it will be of no avail," quipped Shah, alluding to the Bihar CM's recent remark that the grand old party had become too occupied with the assembly polls in five states to care for the INDIA coalition. This was Shah's first visit to Bihar after the findings of the caste-based survey were made public on October 2.
The survey showed that OBCs and EBCs, who are traditional supporters of the JD(U) and its ally RJD, comprised more than 60 per cent of the state's population. The influential upper castes were close to 10 per cent, as per the survey, the accuracy of which has been called into question by the BJP.
In the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, the BJP-led NDA had won 39 of the 40 seats in Bihar, barring Kishanganj, which was bagged by the Congress.
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