Patna: The Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) would have an upper hand in the ongoing monsoon session of the Bihar legislature that commenced on Friday. The first day of the assembly which lasted for half an hour was ruled by the Agnipath scheme as the issue echoed in the house.
As the real debate will start on Monday, the opposition party RJD will use the monsoon session in the best way to score ahead of BJP and JDU. It would be difficult for the ruling NDA to counter the opposition as they are already going through a tough phase in Bihar. Demands are being made to roll back the Agnipath scheme and this tenor would be visible for the rest of the session. Amid the current situation, RJD will try to fish in the troubled waters.
Opposition leader Tejashwi Yadav said that his party will not leave the issue until the government withdraws the scheme, as well as the FIRs lodged against the protestors. Tejashwi has already threatened that if required, RJD will launch a foot march to Rashtrapati Bhavan as well. Even JDU leaders have a similar view over the Agnipath scheme and they too said that there is a need to rethink. As both JDU and RJD are on the same page, RJD will ensure that the issue remains in the buzz so that they can maintain an upper hand during the session in which BJP will be left alone.
Instead of attacking RJD, the Bihar BJP state president chose to attack its own alliance partner on the issue. Firing a fresh salvo at JDU, the BJP state unit president Sanjay Jaiswal said that he finds it "laughable" when JDU leaders demand rethinking of the Agnipath scheme. He not only mocked the JDU but also blamed the poor condition of higher education in Bihar.
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"It made me laugh when JDU leaders talked about rethinking the Aginapth scheme. They should first ensure to complete the degree course in three years as the education department is looked after by the JDU. They should first improve the higher education system in the state,” Jaiswal said during a function in Bettiah two days back.
On the very first day of the monsoon session of the Bihar assembly, RJD set the agenda on which JDU seemed equally affirmative. It would not be an easy task for the JDU to ignore the opposition. Hindustani Awam Morcha (HAM), another alliance partner of NDA, is also standing with RJD on the Agnipath issue. In the entire scenario, BJP is left alone and it would be interesting to see how the saffron party tackles the situation as RJD would leave no stone unturned to keep the issue alive.
The bitter relationship between JDU and BJP is no longer a secret and RJD will use this tug of war for their own benefit. “We will not sit quietly on this issue and our leader has already announced to protest against the Agnipath scheme. The new recruitment policy in the military is the hidden agenda of RSS. Our party will not tolerate such a scheme and we are not bothered who is with us, we just want justice for the youths,” said RJD MLA Bhai Birendra.
Another RJD MLA Mukesh Raushan said that be it RJD or JDU all political parties should protest against the Agnipath scheme which will put the future of youth in "darkness". "After four years, the youths would be left unemployed with no future,“ Raushan said. Patna-based political expert Dr Sanjay Kumar also opined that RJD will try to use to its benefit the uneasiness between JDU and BJP.
“RJD would be aggressive whereas BJP would be in a defensive mode on the issue of Agnipath. RJD will attack harshly as they know that JDU is also on the same page. BJP will waste all their energy on defending themselves whereas JDU will keep mum. I must tell you that the problems of people would not be taken up during the question session hour because most of the time the Agnipath issue will dominate in both houses,” Dr Sanay asserted.
