RJD mavericks give BJP Hindutva ammunition to fire

Patna, Oct 1 (IANS) Bihar is a state known for its diversity in politics thanks to regional parties ruling here for the last 33 years.

And the diversity of politics reached to the micro level in Bihar with individual leaders going beyond party lines.

Leaders like education minister Professor Chandrashekher, RJD state president Jagadanand Singh, former agriculture minister Sudhakar Singh and RJD MLA Chetan Anand went beyond the party line with their stand by and large suiting the BJP..

Chandrashekher got the maximum headlines while batting on the bouncy pitch of Hindutva in Bihar by criticising the Ramcharitmanas and comparing it with potassium cyanide.

While addressing a gathering during an event to discuss Hindi Sahitya on September 14, Chandrashekher said: “It is similar to how we serve 55 types of tasty cuisine and mix one potassium cyanide in it. When I point out such things, they blame me and say I am against Hindu and Sanatan Dharma but when Mohan Bhagwat says, no one has an objection to it.”

Chandrashekher gave a statement against the Ramchartimanas, and Manusmriti in January this year and said that these books spread hatred in the society. Since then, he is regularly making statements against Ramcharitmanas.

Chandrashekher, despite being the education minister says he feels powerless as KK Pathak, the additional chief secretary, is making policies for the department and hence he is making statements on Ramcharitmanas to achieve his micro interest and target CM Nitish Kumar.  

RJD state president Jagadananad Singh, claimed on September 6 that the country became a slave due to people who put Tika on their foreheads. He added that they were making these efforts again.

“ Ask them (BJP-RSS) who made India a slave. Those who put Tika on the forehead had made India a slave. They are making efforts again to make India a slave country,” Singh said.

He added that demolishing mosques or constructing temples would not affect anyone. The country would not run if we divide Hindus and Muslims.

Jagadanand Singh is close to Lalu Yadav but his son was forced by Nitish Kumar to resign from the post of agriculture minister. This may have been in the mind of Jagadananad Singh when he made such a statement.

Sudhakar Singh, the son of RJD state president Jagadanand Singh and former agriculture minister, has compared Nitish Kumar with Shikhandi and a night guard. His statement created a huge uproar among JD-U leaders. When he was the agriculture minister, he said that all employees and officials are thieves and he is a king of thieves. Sudhakar Singh was pointing out corruption in the department.

RJD MLA Chetan Anand has opened a front against the party’s Rajya Sabha MP Manoj Jha and slammed him for his poem 'Thakur Ka Kuan'. He connected it with Rajput pride and said that Manoj Jha is being duplicitous (Doglapan) in the name of socialist values.

In a Facebook post, Chetan Anand on September 26, said: “We are Thakur and we believe in taking forward every community. We have given the most sacrifices in history. Targeting one caste in the name of socialist value is nothing but duplicity. When we cannot hear wrong things for others, how could we tolerate abusive remarks on us (Thakur). We strongly object to the statement of Manoj Jha.”

Manoj Jha, the Rajya Sabha MP and very close to Lalu Prasad Yadav and Tejashiwi Yadav, during his speech on the women reservation bill in the special session of Parliament, cited a poem Thakur Ka Kuan on September 22.

All four leaders of the RJD have their own micro interests which have given issues to the BJP to target opponents.

“Jagadanand Singh is a leader who does not believe in Lord Krishna or Lord Rama. Hence, we do not expect much from him. He is objecting to the Ram temple in Ayodhya and supporting the statement of Udaynnidhi Stalin. He is making statements against Hindus and Sanatan Dharma. Anyone can imagine his mindset. These statements he is making only to please his bosses in the party,” said Nikhil Anand, the national general secretary of the BJP OBC Morcha.

The BJP is facing huge anti-incumbency in the 2024 Lok Sabha election as opposition parties are regularly pointing out failures in the policies the Narendra Modi government made in the last 9 and a half years. Issues like depositing Rs 15 lakh in the bank accounts of every individual, providing jobs to 2 crore people every year, failing to control price rise of essentials and hence the saffron leaders have little face to go before the public and inform people that the Narendra Modi government has done well in one sector and it is directly benefiting the common people of the country, Anand said.

In such a situation, the politics of Hindutva, Ram temple, and others are the options to explore in the 2024 Lok Sabha election and the statements of RJD leaders on religion are turning out to be like Amrit for the saffron brigade.