Patna(Bihar): All political parties trying to woo the vote bank of the extremely backward class (EBC) which constitute about 30 per cent of the Bihar total votes in the name of late Karpoori Thakur, the EBC icon of Bihar.
Despite the Covid-19 threat, most of the political parties have decided to pay tribute to him by organising the anniversary function on the name of Karpoori Jayanti. Big hoardings and cutouts can be seen on a large scale in the state capital.
The goal of all political parties is to ensure EBC vote banks stick to their respective parties. Three main political parties RJD, JDU and BJP have chalked out the plan to celebrate his anniversary which falls on January 24.
Chief Minister Nitish Kumar has always taken a lead on this front and it's also evident from the fact that JDU's newly built office is named after the EBC leader who was also the chief minister of Bihar in the '70s.
Every political party left no stone unturned to prove that they are the real follower of Karpoori. There was a time when both JDU and BJP used to attack each other on the issue of real claimants of Karpoori. In the changed political scenario they are doing the same thing but in a much-dignified way with less tantrum.
“It is but obvious that he comes from the socialist background and we have been following his footsteps since long. In fact, all the JDU leader follow his footsteps, “said former minister and JDU leader Maheswar Hazari.
After coming to power in 2005, Nitish did several good works for EBC to penetrate in their vote share and his good work among EBC paid him rich dividends in the NDA in 2010 elections. However, in 2014 a good chunk of EBC voted for BJP as well since then BJP does not want to lose this lion share and continue working hard to retain this vote bank.
Not to forget that BJP has all the reasons to make the claim as Prime Minister Narendra Modi himself is an EBC.
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RJD on the other hand slammed both JDU and BJP claiming that they have no moral right to celebrate his birth anniversary as they are one who used to abuse him. He also claimed that RJD is the real successor and heir of Karpoori.
“There is a row to claim the real successor but it is the RJD who follows the ideology and thought of Karpoori Ji. It's very sad that those who used to abuse Karpoori Ji want to become his heir,” said RJD national general secretary Shyam Rajak.
All political parties fear the poaching of the extremely backward class (EBC) vote bank and that's the reason that despite Covid -19 threat they have organised the function.
Earlier both RJD and JDU leaders used to allege that BJP always stood against EBC and demolished Janata Party 1977 when Karpoori came in power.
However, BJP spokesperson Sanjay Tiger stated that RJD never followed the footsteps of Karrpoori.
“Are the RJD leaders following Karpoori ji's footsteps? Everybody knows that all the wrong things are done by RJD in the name of Karpoori, JP and Lohia. JP was always against corruption and the party supremo is convicted in corruption charges. JP always stood against the caste system but RJD promotes it, “Tiger alleged.
In the past, many political parties including RJD and JDU had issued several statements against BJP that it was the saffron party who stood against reservation when V.P.Singh formed the government in 1990 and put forward their communal agenda for their own vested interest.
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Nitish has always played safe in terms of projecting himself as the real follower of Karpoori. It was with this intention he sent Karpoori's son Ramnath Thakur to Rajya Sabha for the second time in 2020 apart from dedicating a museum in the heart of the state capital. In fact, Nitish's politics revolves around the EBC vote bank which has kept him in power since 2005.
Asked about the reason for political parties celebrating Karpoori's birth anniversary at such scale though there is no election in Bihar, Political expert Sanjay Kumar said, “EBC is the biggest factor in forming the government for any political party. There is confusion among all political parties that this government may not complete its full term. If there is any slightest chance of a midterm poll they should be ready and for that, they badly need this large chunk of voter share.”
He further said, “Nitish has always claimed that EBC vote bank blindly follows him, in the same way, RJD claims that their politics began from Mandal commission. Be it NDA or opposition both will try to ensure that their EBC vote is intact at the time of the election. So at present, they are just building their foundation strong to minimise last-minute rush in a changed scenario.”
