Playing to Bihar’s electoral galleries and keen to outdo the Nitish Kumar-led NDA government in its own games, the RJD-LJP alliance on Monday promised sops galore to the minorities, the extremely backward castes and the upper castes. But the icing on the cake was the two parties’ promise to set up a special “anti-riot force” with 25 per cent Muslims in it and 15 per cent reservation to Muslims in government jobs.
The main Opposition alliance’s joint manifesto, released by both RJD chief Lalu Prasad Yadav and LJP chief Ram Vilas Paswan together ten days before the Assembly polls begin, looked designed to seek mainly the Muslims’ support in the polls in a bid to recreate the two parties’ previously rewarding equation of the Muslims and the backward communities. But the interests of the influential upper castes were also taken care of so as to keep the NDA and the Congress far from the victory margins.
Mr Yadav said the RJD-LJP, when it comes to power, would set up a special anti-riot force with 25 per cent Muslims in it. “This force will be specially trained to prevent and combat communal riots,” said Mr Yadav, who, along with Paswan, have long been accusing the ruling NDA of strengthening the RSS and Sangh Parivar’s roots in Bihar.
The RJD-LJP also promised 15 per cent reservation for Muslims in all government jobs and implementation of the recommendations of the Ranganath Mishra Commission.
In other promises aimed at denting the Nitish Kumar government’s hard-won support base among Bihar’s Muslims, the RJD-LJP assured that Urdu would be included in the Bihar Public Service Commission examinations and made a compulsory subject in all high schools. Urdu girls’ schools would also be set up.
Saying the RJD-LJP is keen to “expand the scope of social justice,” Mr Yadav promised 10 per cent reservation in all government jobs to the upper castes and said his government would raise the upper age limit for all government jobs for all the castes and communities.
The RJD-LJP’s manifesto, the second manifesto so far after the CPI(M-L)’s, announced a host of programmes to impart vocational and modern technical training on students from the extremely backward castes through institutes in each subdivision. The alliance promised to waive the pending loan amounts of the weavers’ community and said handloom clothes would be used in all government offices.
Other major promises included increasing families’ quota for kerosene, bringing intermediate education back to the colleges, and bringing down the land registration fee. Mr Yadav, who is the RJD-LJP’s chief ministerial candidate, read out half of the manifesto himself and gave the rest to Mr Paswan to complete along with the microphone into which he had read out the first half.