JD-U, BJP hone MY plan to breach RJD’s citadel

PATNA: The NDA’s JD-U and the BJP are back to focusing on the MY factor to take on the aggressive RJD of Lalu Prasad, who has given the charge of fighting the ruling combine to his son, Tejashwi Yadav.
The JD-U has not only fielded 11 candidates belonging to the Muslim community but has also roped in seven leaders of the community as the party’s star campaigners. Of the total seats in its quota of 110 seats (minus those given to the VIP), the BJP has put up 10% Yadav candidates. But it has not included any prominent Muslim leader in its star campaigner list.

In the second list of BJP’s 46 candidates released on Sunday, seven candidates belonging to the Yadavs have got the ticket, including Satish Kumar Singh from the Raghopur assembly seat to face Tejashwi Yadav, who is the sitting MLA from the seat, a part of the Vaishali parliamentary seat. Tejashwi’s parents, Lalu and Rabri Devi, had also been elected from the Yadav-majority seat.

Analysts say it won’t be easy for the NDA to dent the RJD’s MY citadel because on the one hand, the Muslims have apprehensions about the National Register of Citizens, and on the other, the Yadavs have traditionally been anti-BJP.

“The JD-U image among the minorities has taken a hit because of its alliance with the BJP while a large section of the Yadavs believe the saffron party is dominated by the upper caste and business community,” says Pawan Yadav, a senior university teacher in Patna.The RJD has given 20 seats to the Yadavs in order to maintain its sway over the community.

BJP expels nine leaders for contesting against NDA
The Bihar BJP on Monday expelled its nine rebel leaders, including Rajendra Singh, ex-party vice-president, for six years with immediate effect for contesting against NDA candidates on the tickets of LJP.