Lalu Prasad Yadav made a career out of reservation politics, hence it is not all too surprising to see that the apple hasn’t fallen far from the tree. Despite being the younger brother Tejashwi Yadav is the rightful heir of Bihar’s Yadav empire. Tejashwi Yadav also happens to be a media darling, media has often projected him as the victim of Nitish Kumar’s opportunistic politics. The media follows every move Tejashwi Yadav, hence it was a little surprising when they chose to ignore Tejashwi’s anti-general class rants. Here is what happened:
Tejaswi Yadav raised the demand for 70% reservation in schools, colleges and jobs for the backward communities in Bihar. Upon a little digging we realized that this is not the first instance when such demand was raised by the leader from RJD who is facing many charges of corruption along with other family members.
While attending functions organized by Dhanuk and Nonia communities in his state earlier this year Tejaswi tried to rouse up the public by making an outrageous demand for reservations. It should be noted that these demands for reservation aren’t just extremely unfair for the general class but are well over the constitutionally valid limits.
Tejaswi Yadav, following the footsteps of his highly controversial father, has time and again resorted to caste based politics. He has tried to appease the minority vote bank with the promises of more political power to them. He does not hesitate in pointing fingers at the ruling parties both at the Central and State level and frequently accuses BJP and allies of espousing the interests of Upper castes. In February 2018, he went so far as to say that the BJP and allies were plotting in secret to do away with reservation. Tejaswi has accused the BJP in numerous instances including when he said that “They want to take away reservation from you and they want to take away your voting rights from you”.
While these claims could be easily brushed off as being baseless and futile, one has to think about the extent to which a leader of opposition can stoop to in order to grab attention and project himself as the Messiah of the masses. The already suffering general caste students and job-seekers might feel threatened after hearing these claims while these high hopes might be the cause for unrest in the coming years. Reservation is a very sensitive topic in India which many parties tend to use as a political tool. The demands range from ending reservation to increasing it from different factions of the society. Such comments could disturb the peace and harmony; they would increase the bitterness between the reserved and unreserved category students. While this might just be a politically luring statement by Mr. Tejaswi the public would have to bear the brunt in the long run. In the recent times we have seen how deeply divisive news penetrates and affects the fabric of India.
A politician should never make such politically divisive statements. Tejaswi’s statements have hurt millions of students who look forward to getting fair and equal chances to create a better life. The fate of Bihar and its students rests in the hands of the policy makers. These students will demand answers and give a befitting reply with ballot in the elections to come. Let’s hope they end up making the right choice.