Focus on 200 seats, take backseat to strong parties in states: Tejashwi to Cong

In an interview to PTI, Yadav also called for a “widely accommodative” platform with a commitment from parties that are a part of it to ensure that their politics are guided by the Preamble of the Constitution and nothing else.

Asked if it was high time that an alliance against the BJP for 2024 takes shape, and whether the Congress should be its main pillar, Yadav said he had been seeking since June 2019 that the Congress should focus on seats it is in direct contest against the BJP with, to ensure it wins at least half of them. “I have always called for a broader and united alliance at the national level. The Congress should be pragmatic and take a backseat in those states where regional parties have a better chance of winning against the BJP,” he said.

On poll strategist Prashant Kishor’s talks with the Congress for revival of the grand old party, the 32-year-old RJD leader remarked that if hiring professionals or marketing agencies could make one win elections, the richest could have formed political parties and ruled the country.

No agency or individual can make grassroot leaders such as Lalu Prasad, Sharad Pawar, Nitish Kumar, Mulayam Singh, Chaudhary Charan Singh and Shibu Soren, he said. “Yes, data management teams or agencies help you evaluate. Such exercises help you manage the election campaign at a micro level. However, you can’t do much if you don’t have a committed and ideology-driven cadre at the booth level,” Yadav said.

However, he added, it was up to the wisdom of the Congress on whether and how it shapes Kishor’s role within its structure.

Asked about states doing “bulldozer politics” and the recent demolition drives in Delhi and Madhya Pradesh, Yadav said this term should not be used and glorified. “By ruthlessly bulldozing homes and livelihoods of the poor belonging to minorities, Dalits and OBCs, the BJP-RSS combine is not only bulldozing the idea of India, the Constitution but also the conscience of India,” he said.

The continued “subjugation” of Muslims by the BJP governments may add a few votes to their kitty, but this does no good to the present and future of India, Yadav said.

On the speculation set off by Chief Minister Nitish Kumar attending an RJD-hosted iftar recently, Tejashwi said no “political twist” should be read into it. “Our party has been organising iftar and Makar Sankranti parties for more than two decades, and we have always invited common people as well as senior politicians from across all parties.”

About his remarks in the past that Kumar was not dependable and if a change of government in Bihar was on the cards, Yadav said the RJD is the only regional party that has never compromised on its ideology, values and principles. “We have never aligned with the RSS, the BJP and their allies directly or indirectly… We have fought and keep fighting authoritarian and anti-constitutional forces that remain aligned with the BJP, the RSS and the charade of the NDA… Therefore, there is absolutely no question of a shift in our ideology,” he said.

On his equation with the Congress and LJP (Ramvilas) leader Chirag Paswan, and whether his party was the natural leader of an Opposition alliance in Bihar, Yadav said he had good personal equations with the Gandhi family and Paswan. “We have always walked an extra mile and sacrificed to forge alliances against the BJP-RSS,” he said.

– By Asim Kamal