Lalu neither worked for welfare of backward classes nor Yadavs: Amit Shah in Bihar

PTI, May 24, 2024, 2:47 PM IST

Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Friday launched a blistering attack on Lalu Prasad, alleging that the RJD chief neither worked for the welfare of backward classes nor the people belonging to his caste ‘Yadav’.

While addressing an election rally in favour of senior BJP leader and Union Minister R K Singh in Arrah, Shah said if Prasad, as part of the “arrogant” INDIA bloc, comes to power, “jungle raj, abduction, and gang war will return to Bihar”.

“People don’t want the return of ‘jungle raj’, gang war and abduction industry in Bihar. Lalu neither worked for the welfare of backward classes nor the people belonging to his own caste ‘Yadav’. They are under the wrong impression that Lalu works for them,” Shah said.

“Lalu Ji allowed his two sons to become ministers, sent one daughter to Rajya Sabha, and another is contesting the Lok Sabha polls. He made his wife the chief minister of Bihar….He promotes only his sons and daughters. He can’t think for the welfare of people belonging to his own caste,” Shah said.

The BJP leader accused the Congress and the RJD of “trying to rob reservation from the quotas of SCs, STs and OBCs and give such benefits to Muslims”.

“The NDA under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi ji will not allow this to happen. Congress, Lalu Prasad and Mamata Banerjee are against reservations to backward classes,” he alleged.

“They have been exposed”, he said, referring to a Calcutta High Court order that cancelled OBC certificates issued in the state since 2010.

The Calcutta High Court on Wednesday struck down as illegal the OBC status of several classes in West Bengal granted since 2010, sparking a political debate in the middle of the Lok Sabha elections.

The court observed that the inclusion of 77 classes of Muslims in the list of backward categories was to “treat them as a vote bank”

Shah also said, “If CPI-ML (Liberation) candidate wins from Arrah Lok Sabha seat, Naxalism will once again return to Bihar.”

RK Singh, as a BJP candidate, is seeking re-election from the Arrah Lok Sabha constituency, while CPI-ML (Liberation) nominated Sudama Prasad as a ‘Mahagathbandhan’ candidate.

Voting will take place in Arrah on June 1.