The opposition BJP in Bihar on Tuesday organised a huge function aimed at wooing Yadavs, the state’s most populous caste, who have been steadfast in their support to the ruling RJD.
The ‘Yaduvanshi Milan Samaroh’ was held at the Bapu Sabhagar auditorium in the city, on the occasion of Govardhan Puja, a festival associated with Lord Krishna whose descendants the Yadavs believe themselves to be.
Attendees to the function acknowledged Nityanand Rai, Union minister of state for Home and a former state BJP president, as the “inspiration” behind the event, which was well received on social media as “Yadav with Modi” trended on X for several hours.
In his speech, Rai slammed RJD president Lalu Prasad claiming that he failed to improve the condition of Yadavs despite having ruled Bihar for a long, and cited the recently released report of the caste survey which had stated that less than 2 per cent of the OBC group’s total population was in government jobs.
Notably, the survey also stated that Yadavs, comprising 14 per cent of the total population, are the single largest caste in Bihar though the finding has often been contested by those in the BJP which counts on the upper castes as its core support base.
Moreover, Union Home Minister Amit Shah, widely regarded as the BJP’s principal strategist, alleged at a rally earlier this month that numbers of Yadavs and Muslims, both said to be die-hard RJD supporters, were “inflated”, an observation that is understood to have ruffled many feathers ahead of the Lok Sabha polls.